Is Instagram Down in India Today? Meta Platforms Face Major Outage
Users across India and several other countries reported widespread problems accessing Instagram and Facebook on Friday evening, triggering a surge in searches for “Is Instagram down today?” and...
Users across India and several other countries reported widespread problems accessing Instagram and Facebook on Friday evening, triggering a surge in searches for “Is Instagram down today?” and “Instagram down in India.”
According to outage tracking platform Downdetector, thousands of users experienced issues while using Meta-owned platforms including Instagram and Facebook. Many users complained about sudden logouts, app crashes, feed refresh failures, and messaging disruptions.
Instagram Users Face Login and Feed Refresh Problems
Most Instagram users reported problems with the mobile application, with many unable to refresh feeds or upload stories. Several users also said direct messages were not loading properly during the outage.
At the same time, Facebook users reported login failures and server-related errors. Downdetector data showed a sharp increase in outage complaints within a short period.
“Instagram Down” Searches Spike Across India
As the outage spread, searches related to “Instagram down today,” “Facebook down,” and “Meta outage” started trending online. Users moved to other social media platforms to confirm whether the issue was affecting others globally.
Some users also reported receiving error messages while opening Instagram, while others were automatically logged out from their accounts.
Meta Yet to Issue Official Statement
Meta has not officially commented on the outage so far. However, such outages are usually resolved after backend server or networking issues are addressed.
The issue appears to have affected both Android and iPhone users in multiple regions, including India.
Meanwhile, Indian cybersecurity and threat intelligence company TraceX Labs has identified a dark web portal where a threat actor group calling itself “ANONYMOUS HOTZ /// APT” is claiming responsibility for the recent global Instagram and Facebook outage that affected millions of users worldwide.
According to researchers at TraceX Labs, the dark web page surfaced shortly after users began reporting widespread issues accessing Instagram and Facebook services on June 12, 2026. During the outage, users experienced login failures, app crashes, feed refresh problems, and messaging disruptions across multiple countries.
The hidden service identified during the investigation is reportedly hosted on the Tor network and primarily loads in Chinese language by default, while also offering an English translation option.
The threat actor group claims it carried out a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack targeting Meta’s global infrastructure.
One translated statement on the portal allegedly reads:
“On 12 June 2026, we executed a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack against Meta Platforms global infrastructure.”
The page further claims that Instagram and Facebook services were disrupted globally for more than six hours.
$100,000 USDT Ransom Demand
The dark web portal also contains a ransom demand of $100,000 payable in USDT (TRC20) cryptocurrency. The threat actor warns of another larger attack within 30 days if the payment is not made.
Another message displayed on the portal allegedly states:
“Failure to pay equals permanent Meta takedown.”
The actor also threatens a future “full infrastructure collapse” affecting Meta services.
No Verified Technical Evidence Yet
Despite the claims published on the dark web portal, TraceX Labs stated that there is currently no verified technical evidence confirming that the outage was caused by the threat actor or by a DDoS attack.
At the time of publication:
- Meta has not confirmed any cyberattack.
- No forensic indicators linking the outage to a DDoS attack have been publicly released.
- No proof-of-compromise or technical attack infrastructure details have been shared by the actor.
Cybersecurity researchers believe the outage could also have resulted from internal infrastructure failures, server-side issues, routing problems, or configuration-related technical glitches.
Meta Yet to Confirm Root Cause
Meta acknowledged the widespread disruption and confirmed that restoration efforts were underway. However, the company has not commented on the dark web claims identified by TraceX Labs.
No official root cause analysis has been released so far.
TraceX Labs Advisory
TraceX Labs advised the public and media organizations not to treat unverified dark web claims as confirmed facts without technical validation.
The company recommended:
- Avoid engaging with extortion demands or cryptocurrency wallets.
- Wait for official forensic investigations before attributing outages to cyberattacks.
- Exercise caution while accessing Tor hidden services or dark web infrastructure.
- Follow verified cybersecurity intelligence updates for accurate developments.
At present, the claims made by “ANONYMOUS HOTZ /// APT” remain unverified, and no public evidence has conclusively linked the group to the Instagram and Facebook outage.
