Elon Musk’s social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, experienced widespread outages on Monday morning, affecting thousands of users in the US and UK. Downdetector, a platform monitoring tool, reported tens of thousands of outage incidents from the US, while over 8,000 reports came from the UK before 14:00 GMT. Many users faced persistent connection issues, with disruptions continuing into the afternoon. Musk later attributed the outage to a massive cyber-attack originating from Ukraine, although he did not provide evidence for his claims.
Outages Disrupt Users in the US and UK
Users across the US and the UK were unable to access Elon Musk’s platform X on Monday, March 10, 2025. The technical issues were reported widely, with users experiencing difficulties refreshing their feeds and accessing the platform via both mobile apps and the desktop site. The outages began in the morning and continued for several hours, causing frustration for many users who were unable to use the platform as usual.
Downdetector, a website that tracks online service outages, detected tens of thousands of complaints from US users, while over 8,000 users in the UK reported similar issues. The disruptions affected a broad range of X’s features, including posting, viewing, and refreshing content.
Musk’s Cyber-Attack Claim and Controversy
Elon Musk, the CEO of X, attributed the outages to what he described as a “massive cyber-attack.” In a statement, Musk claimed that the attack originated from the Ukraine region, although he provided no evidence to substantiate his assertion. Musk has been vocal in his criticisms of Ukraine and its President Volodymyr Zelensky, and his comment added fuel to ongoing tensions surrounding the conflict.
Musk did not clarify whether he believed state actors were involved in the attack. In a tweet on X, he speculated that the attack might have been the work of “a large, coordinated group and/or a country.”
In a separate interview with Fox Business, Musk elaborated further, stating that the attackers targeted the X platform with Internet Protocol (IP) addresses from the Ukraine region. He claimed that the attack was an attempt to take down the platform.
Cyber-Attack Suspected by Experts
Cybersecurity experts, however, are weighing in on the cause of the outage. Alp Toker, director of NetBlocks, an organization monitoring global web service connectivity, suggested that the patterns of the outage resembled past distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. Toker told the BBC that the disruptions appeared to align with the characteristics of a large-scale DDoS attack, which overwhelms a website with massive amounts of internet traffic, causing it to crash.
“We’ve seen outages lasting over six hours, each with global impact,” Toker stated. “These disruptions are consistent with a typical denial-of-service attack.” However, despite Musk’s repeated claims, no definitive evidence has yet emerged to confirm the involvement of Ukraine or any specific country in the alleged cyber-attack.
Tensions Between Musk and US Senator Kelly
On the same day, Musk also engaged in a heated exchange with US Senator Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona. Kelly had visited Ukraine over the weekend, prompting Musk to accuse him of being a “traitor.” Musk’s criticism was based on Kelly’s continued support for Ukraine in its ongoing conflict with Russia.
Senator Kelly defended his visit, stating that the United States should not abandon the Ukrainian people in their struggle for freedom. Kelly responded directly to Musk on X, writing, “If you don’t understand that defending freedom is a core American value, maybe you should leave it to those of us who do.”
This exchange reflects Musk’s long-standing controversial stance on the Ukraine conflict, as well as his tendency to use his platform for personal and political statements. The debate further fuels the growing public tension between Musk, political leaders, and his platform’s users.
Future of X and Ongoing Outage Investigation
As the investigation into the cause of the outage continues, X users are hoping for a resolution to the platform’s ongoing technical issues. While Musk’s allegations about the cyber-attack have been widely discussed, experts continue to investigate the true cause behind the disruption.
The platform’s ability to handle large-scale cyber-attacks will be closely watched, especially as Musk’s companies, including SpaceX and Tesla, continue to grow in influence. For now, X’s users and stakeholders await further updates on the situation.
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