SUMMARY
A global outage on October 26 had crippled WhatsApp operations, rendering millions of people worldwide unable to send or receive messages
In a statement, Meta had said that a ‘technical error’ caused the disruption and said that the issue had been resolved
On October 26, MeitY had directed the messaging platform to share reasons for the disruption
Two days after the global outage, messaging platform WhatsApp has now submitted its report on the matter to the Ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY).
On Wednesday, the ministry directed the messaging platform to file a report on the matter, asking the platform to share reasons for the disruption. This came right after a global outage crippled WhatsApp operations, rendering millions of people worldwide unable to send or receive messages.
This two-hour service disruption was one of the longest outages in the history of WhatsApp. Meta, later, issued a statement highlighting that the outage was due to a ‘technical error’ and said that the issue had been resolved.
The move is in line with the government’s convention of seeking a report from a concerned company involved in an outage. These are largely driven by cybersecurity considerations to avoid any imminent cyberattack on Indian installations.
Meanwhile, it was not immediately clear what the content of the submissions were, according to reports.
The outage began at half past noon on October 25, as reports began to trickle in of the snag on other social media platforms. Online trackers noted that WhatsApp was down in major cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, among other Indian cities.
The aftermath saw users pouring on to Twitter and Instagram as memes went viral of the outage. In many instances, work came to a grinding halt as many were left unable to connect with their colleagues and acquaintances.
WhatsApp is one of the most widely used messaging apps in the country with around 550 Mn users.
According to a report, around 80% of messages sent on the app are seen within five minutes, pointing to the wild popularity of the social media platform. This makes the platform especially attractive for businesses looking for effective consumer outreach. WhatsApp leverages exactly this idea via WhatsApp Business through which it enables brands to offer support and receive payments.
This adds to a growing list of issues for WhatsApp in India. It is already locked in a legal tussle with the government on matters related to privacy policy update and market compliance.
While the report has been submitted, there has been no clarity yet on the specifics of the technical error that caused the outage. While authorities look into the matter, questions continue to arise about what caused the country’s biggest messaging app to come crashing down for hours altogether.
