Connectivity disruptions are problems that we can’t ignore, particularly when being connected has been a part of our daily lives. The list below outlines the ten most significant global internet outages that occurred in the first half of 2023, as reported by Ookla's Downdetector.
- Instagram
Date of outage: May 21, 2023
Instagram faced the most substantial setback in the first half of 2023. The outage, which occurred from approximately 10 pm to 2 am UTC, rendered users incapable of engaging with content on the platform. More than 2.4 million users across the globe were reportedly affected by this situation.
- Reddit
Date of outage: March 14, 2023
Reddit secured the second position on the list, with an outage that impacted over 1.2 million users worldwide. This disruption prevented users from replying to posts or downvoting content on the platform's subreddit r/AskReddit. Reports of the outage began around 7 pm UTC and the platform was fully operational again six hours later.
- Spotify
Date of outage: January 14, 2023
Spotify encountered a substantial outage, leaving over 489,000 users without access to music, podcasts and audiobooks. The peak of the outage reports occurred between 6 pm and 8 pm UTC, with some users experiencing residual issues for a few hours afterward.
- Roblox
Date of outage: January 28, 2023
Seen as the biggest gaming outage of 2023 so far, affected Roblox gamers worldwide experienced server connection and gameplay issues. Disrupted gameplay prompted over 470,000 users to report problems on Downdetector.
- Diablo
Date of outage: June 8, 2023
Another hit for gamers, Diablo experienced a server connection outage that affected more than 338,000 gamers. The disruption persisted from 8 pm to 12 am UTC, causing frustration among players.
- Steam
Date of outage: June 25, 2023
This prominent video game distribution platform encountered service disruptions, with over 308,000 users reporting issues related to server connections and logins. The peak of reports occurred around 11 pm UTC.
- YouTube
Date of outage: February 9, 2023
More than 300,000 users reported problems with streaming videos on YouTube earlier this year. Both the website and mobile application were affected, leading to a lack of access to popular content.
- EA
Date of outage: May 4, 2023
A range of EA accounts and games experienced downtime, affecting over 298,000 gamers. Many players faced difficulties connecting to servers or logging into their accounts throughout the day.
- Microsoft 365
Date of outage: January 25, 2023
This outage impacted over 240,000 Microsoft 365 users, hindering access to essential business and education tools. Various Microsoft products, including Teams, Outlook and OneDrive for Business, were affected.
- League of Legends
Date of outage: May 13, 2023
League of Legends experienced a major service disruption that prompted nearly 200,000 players to report issues with gameplay. Throughout the day, users encountered difficulties accessing the game, leading to a significant number of outage reports.