Services including ChatGPT, the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the gaming service League of Legends, and even firms like Amazon and Spotify were suddenly rendered inaccessible for a significant period. 

I can confirm the immediate disruption was linked to Cloudflare’s core network.

The root cause of the crippling global disruption has been traced back to a seemingly routine operation. Cloudflare disclosed that a misconfiguration occurred during scheduled maintenance at its Santiago (SCL) data centre. 

This maintenance was planned for a three-hour window between 12:00 and 15:00 UTC today. Instead of a smooth update, the error triggered a dangerous cascade of failures that propagated across Cloudflare’s entire worldwide network, the digital backbone that thousands of websites rely on for performance and security.

Users across the globe were immediately confronted with widespread HTTP 500 errors, system failures on Cloudflare’s own Dashboard, and non-functional APIs. For many, this meant complete inaccessibility of their chosen services for over an hour.

To contain the uncontrolled spread of the outage issue and attempt remediation, Cloudflare was forced to temporarily deactivate certain services for users in the United Kingdom. 

Specifically, the company issued a notice stating: “During our attempts to remediate, we have disabled WARP access in London. Users in London trying to access the Internet via WARP will see a failure to connect.”

Cloudflare’s WARP is a zero-trust access tool, part of the company’s initiative to provide content delivery network (CDN) services and protection against attacks like DDoS. I believe this temporary shutdown was a last-ditch effort to stabilise their core network functions.

By 8:15 a.m. UTC, the company reported initial success in its recovery operations. Importantly, it confirmed that they had reinstated services for UK users, stating: “We have re-enabled WARP access in London.”

The company also noted that error levels for their Access and WARP services had “returned to pre-incident rates.” While this shows a partial return to normal, the company is still investigating the full extent and complete root cause of the internal service degradation.

The outage, which originated from AWS’s US-EAST-1 region, began in the early hours of Monday and quickly spread beyond the United States, affecting Europe, Asia, and Africa. 

According to AWS’s own status dashboard, multiple services are currently “impacted” due to “increased error rates and latencies,” with engineers “actively engaged and working to both mitigate the issue and understand root cause.”

For users, the impact has been immediate and widespread. Alexa devices have gone silent, unable to respond to voice commands or execute daily routines like alarms and reminders. 

Developers and businesses using AWS’s cloud network, from Airtable to Perplexity AI and the McDonald’s app, have also been hit. Even high-traffic entertainment platforms like Fortnite, Roblox, and Rainbow Six Siege are offline.

Downdetector, a platform that tracks service disruptions, has logged over 2,000 incident reports in the U.S. alone since the outage began. On Reddit and X (formerly Twitter), frustrated users across time zones have shared screenshots of failed connections and frozen dashboards.

“Perplexity is down right now,” confirmed Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity, in a post on X. “The root cause is an AWS issue. We’re working on resolving it.”

Amazon, in its latest public update at 3:51 a.m. ET, noted that it would provide further information every 45 minutes “or sooner if we have additional information to share.” However, at the time of writing, there is still no estimated timeline for full restoration.

This isn’t the first time AWS’s US-EAST-1 region has been the source of widespread disruption. Similar outages in December 2021, November 2020, and June 2023 took down high-profile platforms including Netflix, Disney+, Slack, Zoom, and Twitch. 

Each incident revealed an issue across the tech industry, that a large portion of the global internet depends heavily on a single cloud provider’s regional infrastructure.

The current outage appears to have hit both consumer-facing apps and backend systems, including AWS’s own Support Center and Support API, which organisations rely on for case creation and troubleshooting.

While AWS has reiterated that engineers are investigating the problem, the lack of transparency about the specific cause of the outage is driving industry-wide anxiety. Many are now revisiting familiar cases of how much centralisation is too much when the internet’s backbone depends on just a handful of companies.

For now, millions of users are in a holding pattern, waiting, refreshing, and hoping their devices come back online soon.

The nationally representative study conducted by Censuswide interviewed more than 2,000 U.S. adults and found that those experiencing Internet disruptions on a daily basis are twice as likely to live in the lowest-income states.

If you live in a state where the average yearly income is $40,000-$49,000 you are 48% more likely to experience weekly Internet disruptions than someone who lives in a state where the average income is $60,000-$69,000 (40% vs 27%).

Moreover, you are 130% more likely to experience daily Internet disruptions (11.5% vs 5.0%). For many years, policy makers have sought to address America’s digital divide separating urban and rural areas in terms of Internet connectivity access.

However, the results of this study show a digital disparity between the richest and the poorest across the nation as well as inconsistencies between young Americans and their older counterparts.

Internet Unreliability Hits Young People Hardest

The research reveals that unreliable Internet connections are a fact of life for many. On average, Americans report experiencing Internet disruptions 53 times per year where they currently live, with 82% of Americans acknowledging some level of Internet disruption.

Over a quarter (28%) of Americans experience Internet disruptions on a weekly basis.

Younger people are facing more frequent interruptions than older age groups, with 50% of people aged 18-24 experiencing Internet disruptions once a week or more, compared to 17% of people aged 55 or older.

“Our study highlights a critical issue for a significant proportion of Americans, particularly among Gen Z. This generation increasingly demands high-quality video streaming and uploading capabilities, which are essential for study, remote work, and personal entertainment. As digital natives, Gen Z’s expectations for robust Internet infrastructure are higher, and this trend is set to continue. Strengthening digital infrastructure is not just a priority for meeting the evolving digital needs of younger generations, but also for future workforce strategies,” said Ivo Ivanov, CEO of DE-CIX.

The levels of Internet reliability sit in stark contrast to the pivotal role Internet connectivity plays in people’s working preferences and migration drivers.

For example, the study also showed that working from home was important to over half (51%) of Americans, with nearly 7 in 10 of 18–24-year-olds expressing a desire to relocate and work remotely, compared to just a fifth of those aged 55 and above.

Network interconnection pioneer Hunter Newby, owner of Newby Ventures and co-founder of Connected Nation IXP (CNIXP) – a joint venture company established with the goal of bringing carrier-neutral Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) to regional hub communities throughout the United States – commented:

“Reliable broadband Internet access should not be a luxury. The social returns on investment in Internet infrastructure are significant – especially when it comes to bridging the digital divide. This survey highlights once again that there is a clear and present need for robust Internet infrastructure investment to foster innovation, shape the modern workplace, and support America’s future workforce to strive and succeed.”

#EndBadGovernance protests erupted in several States across the country on the 1st of August, 2024. However, the CSOs accused the government of ‘intentional disruption’ of access to the internet.

The CSOs Statement over #EndBadGovernance protests, read:

17 Internet Restrictions Recorded in Africa in 2023, 330 million People Affected – Study

“We, the undersigned organisations, in the strongest terms possible, condemn the intentional disruption of access to the internet in Nigeria following protests that erupted in several states across the country on the 1st of August, 2024.

“This action constitutes an unacceptable breach of established norms and standards under regional and international human rights instruments to which Nigeria is a State party and must be halted forthwith.

“A joint reading of investigative reports by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism fij.ng, Peoples Gazette, and individual measurements by netizens using internet measurement tools have revealed throttling of internet speed nationwide, aimed at slowing down information dissemination.

“The weaponization of Internet disruptions and blocking or shutdowns during political unrest only exacerbates the underlying concerns of citizens. These shutdowns go against Chapter four of Nigeria’s Constitution that assures its citizens of their rights to freedom of conscience, expression,  assembly and association.

“Article 9(1) of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights guarantees access to information as the right to receive information, a principle also upheld by Article 19(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“Furthermore, disruptions create significant obstacles that damage free flow of information, which may in turn erode trust and increase the likelihood of hostilities and violence.

“Shutdowns also disrupt financial transactions, commerce, industry, labour markets and essential service delivery platforms.

“The government must note that the majority of its citizens are currently at home and need digital platforms to work and communicate. Disruptions such as this can lead to further apprehension and heating up of the polity.

“In a suit filed to challenge the Twitter ban by the Nigerian government in June 2021, the ECOWAS Court declared that Nigeria’s seven-month Twitter ban was unlawful.

“The Court held that it violated the freedom of expression of people in Nigeria and  required the government to take steps to ensure it does not repeat similar acts of censorship in the future.

“As spelt out by Principle 37 of the Declaration of Principles On Freedom Of Expression And Access To Information In Africa, states must facilitate the rights to freedom of expression and access to information online and the means necessary to exercise these rights. They must also recognize that universal, equitable, affordable and meaningful access to the internet is necessary for the realisation of freedom of expression, access to information and the exercise of other human rights. Further to this Principle 38(2) provides that ‘States shall not engage in or condone any disruption of access to the internet and other digital technologies for segments of the public or an entire population.’ The government also failed to acknowledge or provide an explanation for the measures, including their legal basis and underlying grounds.

“Furthermore, the Coalition calls on the government of Nigeria to adhere to the objective of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance under Article 2(10) to promote the establishment of necessary conditions to foster citizen participation, transparency, access to information, freedom of the press and accountability in the management of public affairs. An open internet will ensure this compliance and the promotion of human rights under Article 4  of the Charter.

“At uncertain times such as this, it is important to keep all communication channels open without disrupting and impacting quality of access. This is necessary to ensure citizens are able to communicate seamlessly and access accurate information about the state of things.

“We call on relevant agencies of the government to respect citizens’ rights and immediately cease further disruptions of network services and attempts at future network shutdowns.

Signed by;

1. Accountability Lab Nigeria
2. Africa Cybersecurity Alliance
3. Africa Media and Information Technology Initiative (AfriMITI)
4. African Academic Network on Internet Policy (AANOIP.ORG)
5. African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL)
6. Afroleadership Cameroon 
7. BONews Service
8. Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative
9. Bridges and Hands Foundation 
10. Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID)
11. Consortium of Ethiopian Human Rights Organizations (CEHRO Ethiopia)
12. Digicivic Initiative
13. Digital Grassroots (DIGRA)
14. E-Governance and Internet Governance Foundation for Africa (EGIGFA)
15. Equip Africa Integrated Development Initiative 
16. FactCheck Africa Initiative
17. Farnnel Women Foundation.
18. Global Rights
19. Human Rights Journalists Network Nigeria 
20. Institutional and sustainable Development Foundation (ISDF) 
21. Jonction,senegal
22. KnowledgeHouseAfrica (KHA)
23. Media and Information Literacy & Intercultural Dialogue Foundation (MILID) 
24. Media Career Development Network
25. Media Rights Agenda (MRA)
26. National Roundtable on Business and Human Rights
27. Paradigm Initiative
28. Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC)
29. TechHerNG
30. Techsocietal
31. The Abuja School of School and Political Thought 
32. The African Internet Rights Alliance (AIRA)
33. Webfala Digital Skills for all Initiative
34. West Africa ICT Action Network 
35. West African Digital Rights Defenders coalition 
36. World Impact Development Foundation (WIDEF)

This comes in the wake of intense protests against the government’s proposed Kenya Finance Bill 2024, which aims to increase taxes despite widespread economic challenges and corruption.

The disruption follows a violent issue by police on demonstrators protesting against the bill. London-based internet rights group NetBlocks confirmed the interruption, highlighting that the incident coincided with the protests despite prior assurances from Kenyan authorities that internet services would not be disrupted.

Earlier, the Communications Authority of Kenya had issued a statement denying any intention to interfere with internet connectivity. The authority emphasized its focus on upholding the constitution and protecting freedom of expression.

However, users across Kenya have reported slow or interrupted internet access, and the outage has also affected Uganda and Burundi.

NetBlocks’ live network data confirmed the disruption in internet connectivity, pointing out the severe impact on coverage of the protests.

Social media platforms, particularly X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok, which have been essential for organizing and sharing information about the protests, have experienced intermittent access.

Protestors have been using these platforms to voice their grievances about the high cost of living, increased taxation, and mismanagement of public funds. Despite attempts to engage political leaders online, frustrations have led citizens to the streets, resulting in clashes with law enforcement.

On Tuesday, tensions peaked when protestors stormed the parliament shortly after lawmakers voted to adopt the controversial bill. This confrontation resulted in multiple fatalities and numerous injuries. It was during this time that the internet service began to falter.

Kenya’s largest network operator, Safaricom, has stated that two of its undersea cables experienced outages. However, the exact cause of the widespread internet disruption remains unclear.

The ongoing connectivity issues are expected to hinder the ability to cover and report on the unfolding events accurately.