LONDON: Social media platform X experienced a widespread outage on Tuesday, disrupting access for thousands of users across multiple countries, according to outage-tracking website Downdetector.
More than 22,900 users in the United States reported problems with the platform as of 9:19am Eastern Time, Downdetector data showed.
In the United Kingdom, over 7,000 users reported issues around the same time, while more than 2,700 reports were recorded in Canada.
User reports indicate problems with X (Twitter) since 8:35 AM EST.
How is it affecting you? #XTwitterDownhttps://t.co/qqqwagygy9— Downdetector (@downdetector) January 13, 2026
In Pakistan, around 80 users reported service disruptions at about 7:30pm local time.
Downdetector collects outage reports submitted by users, meaning the actual number of affected users may differ from the figures shown.
X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported.
Access problems reported
Users reported difficulties accessing the X homepage on both web and mobile platforms.
While some users said the service was working normally, others were unable to load the site or app. Ironically, the platform remained filled with posts from users discussing the outage.
By mid-afternoon in the UK, as many as 7,000 users across the UK and US had logged problems on Downdetector.
This is not the first time X has experienced service disruptions.
Similar issues were reported in November last year, days after a major global internet outage caused by technical problems at Cloudflare, a major web security and infrastructure provider.
In March, when X experienced a significant service cut, Musk attributed the disruption to a “massive cyber attack”.
Recent scrutiny
Tuesday’s outage comes at a time of heightened scrutiny and controversy surrounding the platform.
Earlier, Musk said X would make its recommendation algorithm public, including code for organic and advertising content, within seven days.
He said updates would follow every four weeks, accompanied by detailed developer notes explaining changes.
In Europe, the European Commission has extended a data retention order issued to X last year.
The order, related to algorithms and the spread of illegal content, has now been prolonged until the end of 2026, Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters.
In July 2025, prosecutors in Paris opened an investigation into X over suspected algorithmic bias and alleged fraudulent data extraction.
The company described the probe as a “politically motivated criminal investigation” that threatens free speech.
UK investigation
In the United Kingdom, speculation has grown over the possibility of a ban on X after media regulator Ofcom launched a formal investigation into whether the platform has breached UK law.
The probe followed criticism from ministers over unlawful AI-generated images created using X’s Grok chatbot.
The tool was reported to have digitally removed clothing from images of people without their consent.
In response to complaints, X restricted photo-editing features to paying users. UK ministers said the move was insufficient.
“It is an insult and totally unacceptable for Grok to still allow this if you’re willing to pay for it,” UK technology secretary Liz Kendall said, calling on Ofcom to use its “full legal powers”.
Writing in the Telegraph, Kendall described the manipulation of images of women and children as “despicable and abhorrent”.
Musk has dismissed criticism from Kendall and other ministers, accusing them of seeking to suppress free speech.
