X Down: Elon Musk Blames Cyberattacks

X Platform Experiences Significant Outage, Elon Musk Cites Cyberattack

Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, experienced accessibility issues on Monday morning, impacting thousands of users, notably within the United States.

Following approximately eight hours of disruptions, Musk announced that the platform was contending with a “massive cyberattack.”

Musk’s Statement on the Attack

“A substantial cyberattack is currently targeting 𝕏, and continues to do so. While we routinely face attack attempts, this incident demonstrates a significant investment of resources.” Musk posted on X.

He further indicated the potential involvement of either a large, coordinated group or a nation-state actor, stating, “Either a large, coordinated group and/or a country is involved. Tracing…”

Alleged Origin of the Cyberattack

During a live interview with Fox News on Monday, Musk suggested that the source of the purported cyberattack appeared to be IP addresses located in the vicinity of Ukraine.

Platform Vulnerability and Recent Controversies

Despite the lack of independent verification of Musk’s assertions, the susceptibility of his platform to cyberattacks is plausible. Musk’s profile has become increasingly prominent and contentious, particularly during President Donald Trump’s second term.

He has directly overseen a team, known as “DOGE,” which has implemented substantial reductions in government funding, employment opportunities, and international assistance programs.

Impact on Tesla and Public Perception

Tesla stores have also been the focus of demonstrations related to Musk’s considerable, unelected influence within the government. Consequently, the stock value of Musk’s automotive company has experienced a decline.

Outage Details and User Reports

According to Downdetector, a service monitoring online outage reports, the initial disruptions began around 5:30 a.m. ET, with over 20,000 users reporting problems.

While these initial issues appeared to be resolved within an hour, further outages occurred around 9:30 a.m. ET, escalating to more than 40,000 reported incidents. Intermittent access was experienced by some users, but the problems persisted past 1:30 PM ET.

Normal Occurrences and User Frustration

While occasional outages are typical for platforms of this scale, they invariably cause inconvenience to users. One user expressed their frustration on Downdetector, commenting, “on day 1 of the NFL free agency!? ELON Fix this.”