The social media platform X (FKA Twitter) went down three separate times with the longest outage lasting several hours starting around 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET.
No official words has come from X save for a single tweet from owner Elon Musk claiming that the outage was due to a 'massive cyberattack.'
More than 40,000 Downdetector reports poured in from users during the second outage — around 35,000 during the third outage — stating that they couldn't even get the X website to load, and it spiked hard again for a third one.
A quick report spike occurred earlier today, but the issue was resolved quickly. However, the second outage saw a much higher jump, and while it was resolved quickly, a third outage appears to be wrapping up after lasting much longer than the previous two.
The company seemed to resolve the outage around 10 a.m. PT as reports on Down Detector steadily declined from then on.
Is X Down? Yes it is.
It looks like X is having some significant issues. The baseline number of reports for X on Downdetector is 12, so for it to jump to more than 40,000 indicates something isn't quite right with the popular social media app.
We haven't heard anything official from X about why the application and website are down. We'll continue to monitor the problem and keep you posted as we learn more.
Where are you posting?
Are you still posting your thoughts on one of the best X (Twitter) alternatives, or are you keeping everything bottled up until X comes back?
As this X outage develops, we'll keep you in the loop, letting you know what's happening as soon as we learn.
Is X / Twitter back online?
The Downdetector reports are starting to drop (though the number is still at around 30,000, which is a lot). A few members of the Tom's Guide staff claim they've been able to get X posted to load without issue, so it's possible the issue could be coming to an end.
As always, we'll continue to monitor for any spikes, as the service went down early this morning, came back and then went down again a couple hours later. If that happens again, we'll be here to keep you in the loop.
Two spikes, one day
It's been an unpleasant day for X, as we've seen two significant outages reported on the same day, neither lasting very long. This isn't ideal for Elon Musk's X social network or its users.
The first outage wasn't nearly as bad as the second, with reports peaking at just over 21,000. The second outage lasted for about the same time but saw more than 40,000 reports.
The difference in reports is likely because the U.S. wasn't online yet, as it started at around 5:30 a.m. ET. The second outage occurred in the eastern part of the United States' morning, leading to more users getting upset and reporting the problem.
What's causing these spikes?
🚨DDOS Alert🚨To anyone wondering why X (Twitter) was down, it was under attack by Dark Storm Team.Actor: Dark Storm TeamMethod: DDOSDate: March 10, 2025#Hacktivism #CyberAttack #CyberThreat #Darkweb #DarkStormTeam #CyberNews #News #NewsUpdate #HackerNews pic.twitter.com/z9Yx4BRi9PMarch 10, 2025
Some users are speculating that X might be the victim of DDOS attacks, which is causing the social network to go up and down. The engineers at X are taking steps to resolve and secure the service while attackers are finding new ways to get around the defenses and bring the popular social network down again.
Now that it's working again, you can see an X post above about the possibility of a DDOS attack and even claiming that Dark Storm Team is responsible for the attacks.
We'll see if the second attack is the end or if X goes down again.
Where in the U.S. was X down?
Many of the X outage reports have come from New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. That's not surprising, as these large cities have more people and will often have the most reports for major outages like this one.
If the outage is a DDOS attack, it would also make sense for the attackers to target major cities, as that'll take the most significant number of users offline in the least amount of time. If the goal is to upset Musk and his company while making X users mad, these three cities make sense.
While not as large, there's a spike of reports in Boston that's worth keeping an eye on if X goes down again.
X is back online
While the spike was massive, it was short live. After two short outages, the social media site has emerged from the outage and appears to be in good working order again.
Seeing as there were two outages, we'll continue to monitor X's status throughout the day to see if it goes down again.
X down again?
After what appeared to be the end of the outage, another spike occurred, leading us to believe that DDOS attacks (if that ultimately is the cause) aren't done.
Members of Tom's Guide staff are also saying they can't access X / Twitter, so it's likely that we're about to enter another significant outage.
It's not just you, X is down again
After having no problem getting to X for about an hour, I'm unable to load the popular social network at all. Our Streaming Managing Editor, Kelly Woo, also said she can't access X / Twitter.
I've tried going to Twitter.com and X.com on my MacBook Air to get to the service with no success. I also opened the X app on my iPhone in an attempt to load some content and couldn't see anything.
If you're experiencing issues with X, know it's not just you. We'll keep you posted on the latest, but today will be a day of X going up and down as the issues continue to pop up.
Downdetector comments the new X
When X goes down, Downdetector is one of the first places dedicated users turn to find out what's happening.
Since they're already there, along with thousands of other X users, people have started sharing thoughts about random things in the comments section, almost using it like X / Twitter.
I can't guarantee that what you'll find is safe for work, but if you really miss hearing random people yelling their thoughts into the echo chamber that is social media, maybe check the Downdetector comments section.
How long will this X outage last?
While I can't predict the future, I can look at the previous two X outages today and guess how long this one might take to resolve. The two outages this morning each took about 45 minutes to resolve, so if it is a DDOS attack this time, we'd expect a similar time frame, but anything could happen.
Once the DDOS attacks stopped and X came back, it took about three hours for X to go down again the first time and only about 30 minutes for it to go down between the second and third outage.
How to complain about X being down?
Where do you go to complain that X / Twitter is down if X is down? Usually, when there's a major outage, we turn to X to find out what users think about the problem.
Without X, we can look to apps like Bluesky to see what users think, but it's hard to hear anything firsthand from X itself, as Musk doesn't typically venture to other social networks.
If you're interested in getting started on Bluesky, it might be wise to check out our how to sign up for Bluesky guide, as it offers everything you need to get going on the X alternative.
We've contacted X
I've sent an email to X support asking for a comment on the outage since we can't access any official channels on the social app to see if there's an explanation. As soon as we hear back from the social media giant, we'll post an update (assuming we hear anything back at all).
Lasting a little longer
The first two outages showed quick triangles on Downdetector. The third one is staying at its peak for significantly longer.
Suppose the outage is due to DDOS attacks. In that case, the attackers may have found a better angle to get in, or X engineers are trying to find a more permanent solution for whatever hole the attackers are actively using.
Whatever the reason, this outage isn't going away quickly and leaves millions of users without access to their favorite social network.
A minor downturn
While it took a lot longer, we've finally seen a slight but notable downturn in the reports. This outage peaked at 29,143, and as of this post, it's sitting at 26,428. That's about 3,000 reports less than its peak, which could mean we're getting to the end of this outage.
Will this be the final X / Twitter outage for the day, or will it keep happening? We'll be here every step of the way with the latest X outage news as it happens.
Tesla stock also crashing
A service like X going down isn't good for anyone. People rely on X to get the latest news and information about, well, everything.
But that's far from Elon Musk's only problem today. Tesla's stock price has crashed even further by 11%, and UBS warns that it's still a sell even at this stage.
The stock is down more than 40% year to date.
Why the steep drop? A UBS analyst is predicting Tesla’s 2025 vehicle deliveries to decline by 5%, which would be the second consecutive year of negative growth for the company.
How else to spend your time
With X being down, many of your internet scrolling habits are probably all out of sorts. If you spend much time seeking information on X, you might not know what to do with yourself.
Thankfully, there are tons of Twitter / X alternatives where you can get your social media fix.
But if you don't feel like doomscrolling through another social network, we have other ideas. Why not subscribe to Tom's Guide on TikTok and watch some of our best short-form videos? Or, if you prefer longer content, maybe look at Tom's Guide on YouTube, which is filled with reviews and other content you'll love.
If that doesn't work, maybe you should read our in-depth Bluesky guide to help you learn more about the fast-growing social network.
All over the place
The biggest spikes in outage reports are in major U.S. cities still, with New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, Phoenix and others leading the charge.
However, as you can see from the map above, there are plenty of outage reports all over the U.S., from rural areas to smaller cities. Just based on the volume of outage reports, it's safe to say that users all around the country (and the world) can't access the social network.
Just when it looked better...
We finally started to see the reports level out and even drop for X / Twitter. No sooner than I was getting ready to report that we might be out of the woods, the reports spiked suddenly, getting up to 34,000 again.
That's higher than the 28,000 reported at the peak of the third outage, so things are only getting worse as the reported DDOS attack continues to bring the social network to its knees.
You have to wonder about the motivation for the attack. Is it just because X / Twitter is a popular service, or is the attack politically motivated? We can't say, but there's a reason X is the only service being targeted today.
10,000 comments and rising
When I started this live report, the X page on Downdetector had around 3,000 comments.
In just a few hours — the time X has been down — that number has exploded to more than 10,000.
People really are using the comments section as a social network, sharing random thoughts (many of which are offensive, just like on X).
Maybe ChatGPT can help
I asked ChatGPT what it would do to fix the X outage, and it offered some pretty good tips.
Of course, I'm sure X's engineers have already tried all these. However, if you own a social network or major website, these tips might come in handy.
350,000 reports
According to a Facebook post from Downdetector, X has generated more than 350,000 reports across the three outages as of around 1:15 p.m. ET.
That's a whole lot of people wanted to let everyone in the world know that they can't access X / Twitter despite their best efforts.
Round 3 coming to a close
It looks like we might finally be seeing the end of the third X outage today. I tried on my phone and laptop and could quickly reach the X site and iPhone app as of 1:30 p.m. ET. Despite that, X CEO Elon Musk hasn't posted anything about his social network going down as of the same time.
Over on Downdetector, the reports have taken a nose dive to around 10,000 (from the 35,000 peak just a few moments ago).
Between the anecdotal evidence of the app working for me and the sudden drop in reports, I think this outage might be over, but X is far from out of the woods yet, as we thought the second outage was the end and the third ended up being the worst one yet.
Musk comments, going down again
Elon Musk finally commented on the massive X outage that's been going on and off all day. As speculated earlier this afternoon, the outage (according to Musk) is part of an attack on the social media service.
Here's what the CEO of X said in a post on, well, X:
"There was (still is) a massive cyberattack against X. We get attacked every day, but this was done with a lot of resources. Either a large, coordinated group and/or a country is involved."
Again, we don't know where the attack came from. Based on Musk's claim, it had to be a large attack to actually bring the social network down for such a long period. Whether it's a country, as he speculates, might come out later, but this wasn't a small operation.
It seems to be going down again, as I was unable to access the X post from Musk myself (I had to find a screenshot posted else where to read it.
The cycle continues...
Just when it looks like X is ready to come back, it goes down again. Downdetector reports went up to 19,000 users and then dropped again to 16,000. It's an up-and-down pattern that has happened all throughout the day today and shows no sign of stopping.
For my part, I can't get anything to load on X no matter how long I wait. The attack (which Musk blamed for the issues) is clearly still going, leaving users wondering when they'll be able to share their profound thoughts on X again.
Musk says they want to silence him
In response to Musk saying that a massive attack is happening on X, a user asked if "they" want to silence Musk and the platform (X), to which Musk offered a simple "yes" response.
Of course, he's speculating the attacker's intentions, but seeing as no other social media platforms are going down, this seems to be a targeted attack on Musk's social network.
Perhaps we'll learn more about why X was attacked, but attackers may never speak about their motives.
X back online?
Could the X outage actually be over? It's hard to say, but the reports have dropped to around 2,000 for the first time in several hours, which is a notable improvement.
I've been using X for the last 10 minutes without any significant problems (it loaded slowly here and there but was mostly usable). It'll be interesting to see if there's another big jump in the reports, but for now, you should be able to log into X and catch up on what you missed.
Or maybe commenting on Downdetector is the new X?
Musk back to normal posting
For now, X appears to have stabilized as reports hold steady around 2,000 on Down Detector.
Twitter owner Elon Musk has not made any other comment other than his initial post claiming the outage was due to a cyberattack.
Almost immediately he went back to posting memes or responding to political tweets.
Hacking group Dark Storm allegedly claims responsibility
Allegedly, a Pro-Palestinian hacking group dubbed Dark Storm is being blamed for the X outage due to an ongoing DDoS attack.
This claim reportedly came from a Dark Storm Telegram post, but screenshots and reports appear to be coming from groups like LibsofTikTok who are active supports of Musk and the conservative side of American politics.
We have not been able to find the Dark Storm posts, and outside of Newsweek, sites reporting on Dark Storm are not entirely reputable.
At this point, it appears more misinformation than fact.
How long has the current outage run?
The third outage really got going around 7 am Pacific/10 am Eastern.
There have been a few dips where the platform appeared to be back up before spiking again.
As of this post, the outage has gone on for about just over 5 hours.
Most people seem to be able to get back on, though Down Detector shows a steady 2,000 reports that's been going for nearly two hours.
It's not the height of the outage but clearly people are still having issues accessing the site.
Twitter seems back to normal
While Down Detector has shown a steady, if slow, decline since about 10 am Pacific, X (Twitter), appears pretty much back to normal.
I have been able to access the site, make and see posts as well as explore comments and the trending sections.
We did see some people on Reddit saying that they were having problems logging in but that also appears to be working for us, after a couple of tests.
During the reporting decline there have been no spikes either, which usually indicates that the platform is stable or getting there.
Twitter alternatives
As the outage seems to be sorting itself out, you may wonder if there are other places to go that aren't X nee Twitter.
In fact there are several. The two biggest are Bluesky and Threads (via Instagram).
Some like Cohost and Countersocial are meant to be the anti-Twitter, while Mastodon is more of a tech fever dream.
Bluesky appears to be the site that most people have flocked to since Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022. It's basically Twitter 2.0 and was even founded by ex-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, though he left in a fit of pique last year.
Mastodon capitalized on that early Twitter exodus as it has existed since 2017, though its decentralized nature can be off-putting to people who aren't interested in figuring out a platform and instead want it to be ready to go from the start.
Find what feels comfortable to you and make the leap.
No official response beyond Musk's single tweet
Elon Musk blamed a cyberattack for the X outage today, but there has been no other communication from official X accounts or Musk himself since that initial claim.
Since then, Musk has been tweeting memes or about his DOGE project and responding to various tweets.
Even the 'acting' Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino has been fairly quiet, beyond agreeing with various Musk retweets or tweets about DOGE.
That all said, the outage is still declining on Down Detector.
Musk blames Ukraine
While neither X nor Musk have written any further about the alleged 'cyberattack' that may have caused the huge Twitter outage today, Musk did on go on Fox Business today and found someone to blame.
"“We’re not sure exactly what happened,” he said during an interview with Fox Business. “But there was a massive cyberattack to try to bring down the X system, with IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area.”
He provided no further details about the attack or its origin beyond implying that the Ukrainian government was behind it.
His accusations come at a time when President Trump's administration has been highly critical of the Ukrainian government and its response to the Russian invasion of the country.
Additionally, it's possible to mask IP addresses and make it seem as though traffic is coming from elsewhere.
During the interview, which aired at 4 p.m. ET, Musk claimed that the platform was working again.
At that point, the outage did appear to be in decline, though there were still nearly 2,000 reports on Down Detector.
As of this post, DD has finally dipped under 1,000 reports.
Trouble brewing?
It's just a mild blip, but around 4:15 am this morning the number of Twitter outages reported on Downdetector started to trend upwards.
At the moment it doesn't look serious and there's been only a few complaints of either mobile app not loading properly or search not working. We'll keep an eye on things.
A group has claimed responsibility
While Musk is pointing the finger at Ukraine for the attack on X (which is still causing problems for some users), a pro-Palestinian hacktivist operation called Dark Storm Team has claimed responsibility for the attack, as reported by SiliconAngle.
Of course, anyone can take responsibility for an attack like this, but with Dark Storm Team's previous track record, it's entirely believable that they are responsible.
To prevent future attacks, Musk's X social network has adopted Cloudflare's DDoS protection services amid its restoration efforts. This should provide the social network with an extra layer of security.
