X (Formerly Twitter) Grapples with Persistent Bugs Following Data Center Outage

X, formerly known as Twitter, is currently facing significant disruptions as users report ongoing issues with basic site functionality. For over 24 hours, users have experienced problems with messages not loading, timelines failing to update, and posts requiring multiple refreshes to be visible.

The problems began on Thursday afternoon. Downdetector, a crowdsourced platform for flagging web outages, noted a surge in user reports starting at 2:12 p.m. Eastern time. Users reported a range of issues, including login difficulties and disappearing direct messages (Downdetector).

X’s official Engineering account acknowledged the service degradation in a post on Thursday, attributing the problems to a data center outage. “X is aware some of our users are experiencing performance issues on the platform today,” the account stated. “We are experiencing a data center outage and the team is actively working to remediate the issue” (X Engineering Account).

Adding to the complexity, Wired reported that a fire occurred at an X-leased data center near Portland, Oregon, on Thursday. The connection between the fire and the ongoing outages remains unclear (Wired).

This isn’t the first time X has experienced major service disruptions. In March, users worldwide were abruptly disconnected from the platform, facing difficulties accessing feeds, sending messages, and engaging with content (TechCrunch). Elon Musk attributed that disruption to a cyberattack, without providing concrete evidence (Reuters).

Prior to the March incident, X experienced large-scale connectivity issues in December 2022 and July 2023. More recently, in May, X timelines briefly stopped updating for many users (TechCrunch).

Since Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, the company has undergone significant workforce reductions, with the employee count decreasing by approximately 80%, from 7,500 to 1,300. As of January 2023, X had only 550 full-time engineers (CNBC). Further layoffs occurred in November 2024, primarily affecting the engineering department (The Verge).

Reports also suggest that X has faced security vulnerabilities since Musk’s acquisition, including improperly configured servers that could have exposed the site to denial-of-service attacks (Engadget).