WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook were down for more than six hours worldwide. This confused not only three billion users, but also Facebook employees.
The New York Times report said Facebook employees had difficulty resolving the issue because internal systems were also affected. According to an internal memo sent to Facebook employees, the systems affected include the security system, internal calendar, and scheduling system.
Facebook employees also have difficulty making phone calls using work phones and can't receive emails from external sources. Facebook's internal employee communication platform, Workplace, also collapsed, leaving many employees unable to do their jobs.
Because Facebook requires employees to log in with work accounts when accessing services such as Google Docs and Zoom, those services are inaccessible. They also turned to other platforms such as FaceTime, Discord, and LinkedIn to be able to communicate.
Facebook then sent its engineers to one of their data centers in California to try to reset the company's servers manually.
But this is complicated because the security technician assigned to check for tampering cannot enter the server area because their digital identity card is not working. Facebook employees who have entered the office also have difficulty entering office buildings and meeting rooms.
In an email to employees shortly after WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook services recovered, Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer said this incident affected the network backbone that connects all of Facebook's data centers.
"If you're not actively helping with recovery, please be patient and don't rush to reload everything to prevent slowing down network opening," Schroepfer said in his memo, as quoted by The Verge, Tuesday (5/10/2021).
Now WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook services have gradually recovered. Users can now send and receive messages, update feeds and post Stories.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that all three Facebook-owned services were back online. He also apologized to users for the long interruption this time.
"Sorry for the interruption today -- I know how much you rely on our services to stay connected with the people you care about," he said.
