On March 10, 2025, users of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, reported widespread connectivity issues and display delays around 18:50 JST. The outage, which occurred worldwide, particularly impacted users from Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom, causing significant disruptions for nearly 25 minutes.
The issues became evident when users attempted to refresh their timelines, encountering frustrating messages stating, 'Could not read posts. Please try again.' According to reports, many users turned to other social media platforms to voice their experiences under trending hashtags such as '#TwitterDown,' '#TwitterIssues,' and '#XUpAgain.'
By approximately 19:15 JST, the problems seemed to subside, with users sharing their relief online. Comments such as, 'It looks like the problems have been resolved!' and, 'Twitter was down for about 20 minutes, thankfully it's back!' flooded social media feeds, indicating a mix of amusement and annoyance amid the confusion.
Shortly thereafter, Elon Musk, the owner of X, attributed the outage to what he described as 'a large-scale cyber attack.' This announcement was made around 1 PM U.S. Eastern Time, which corresponds to 2 AM JST on March 11, 2025. Musk confirmed during his statement, 'The attack is still underway,' amplifying concerns about cybersecurity vulnerabilities affecting major social media platforms.
Reports indicate the incident sparked discussions across various media outlet comment sections, forums, and news platforms, with cybersecurity experts speculating about the nature of the attack. One expert suggested, 'This kind of disruption often indicates coordinated attempts to overwhelm the service, potentially by bot networks or hacktivist groups.' Such insights highlight the increasing challenges faced by social media platforms like X, especially under the influence of high-profile ownership and public interest.
Despite the rapid recovery, questions lingered about potential vulnerabilities within the platform. Some users expressed concerns on social media about the security measures employed by X, and whether they were sufficient to defend against such attacks. One Twitter user quipped, 'With Elon at the helm, I hope our data is safe!' underscoring the mixture of reliance and skepticism faced by social media giants today.
The incident marks another chapter in the saga of X following its rebranding from Twitter, which has experienced numerous changes under Musk’s leadership, raising eyebrows globally. Experts note such outages, combined with the ownership's public persona, create additional scrutiny around operational security.
While social media continues to be integral to communication for millions worldwide, disruptions like this remind users of the ever-present vulnerabilities these platforms face amid rising cyber threats. With Elon Musk's acknowledgment of the cyber attack, many anticipate not only technical improvements for X but also increased protective measures to safeguard users’ experiences moving forward.
For now, though the storm may have passed, the ripples created by March 10’s outage will likely spark discussions across digital landscapes about user security, platform reliability, and the future of social communication.