SAN FRANCISCO: X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, experienced a significant outage beginning around 7:00 PM IST on January 23, 2026, affecting millions of users worldwide with issues including failure to load timelines, login errors, blank screens and intermittent connectivity problems.
The disruption gained momentum shortly after 7:00 PM IST (1:30 PM UTC), with complaints surging on outage tracking sites and alternative platforms. Downdetector registered a rapid increase in reports from India, the United States, Europe, Southeast Asia and other regions, peaking within the first 30–45 minutes. Users described being suddenly logged out, unable to sign back in, seeing error messages such as “Something went wrong” or simply encountering non-responsive feeds.
According to details received by The Chenab Times, the outage appeared platform-wide rather than region-specific, though reports were particularly heavy from Indian users during evening hours. Many in Himachal Pradesh, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and other parts of the country noted the timing coincided with peak evening usage, exacerbating the impact. Attempts to access X via mobile apps, desktop browsers or third-party clients frequently failed, while some reported partial success by switching networks or using incognito mode—though even these workarounds proved inconsistent.
This incident follows a series of similar disruptions in January 2026, including notable outages on January 16, January 22 and earlier on January 23. Recovery from previous events typically occurred within 30 minutes to an hour, but recurring problems have raised questions about underlying infrastructure stability. No official explanation was provided by X or Elon Musk as of late evening IST, with the platform’s status page remaining silent or inaccessible for many during the peak.
Tech observers and user speculation on alternative sites pointed to potential causes such as server overload, configuration errors following recent code deployments, or lingering effects from past reductions in engineering staff. X has undergone significant operational changes since the 2022 acquisition, including workforce cuts that left fewer personnel to handle large-scale incidents.
During the outage, activity shifted to competitors including Bluesky, Threads and Mastodon, where users posted screenshots of X errors and temporary migration announcements. Some reported that X began partially recovering after about an hour, with feeds loading slowly for certain users while others continued facing issues well into the night.
The platform’s reliability has drawn increasing scrutiny amid its evolution into an “everything app” with added features for payments, video streaming and longer posts. Frequent outages risk alienating users and advertisers at a time when regulatory pressure in multiple countries and competition from Meta’s Threads continue to intensify.
Users affected were advised to:
- Force-close the app and restart the device.
- Clear app cache/data or try the web version (x.com) in a private browsing tab.
- Switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data.
- Monitor Downdetector.com/status/twitter or similar trackers for real-time status updates.
No security breach or data compromise was linked to the incident. As reports gradually declined, partial functionality returned for many, though full restoration remained uneven. The event underscores ongoing challenges for X in maintaining consistent uptime during periods of high global usage.
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Global Affairs Desk at The Chenab Times covers international developments, global diplomacy, and foreign policy issues through fact-based reporting, explainers, and analytical pieces. The desk focuses on major geopolitical events, diplomatic engagements, and international trends, with an emphasis on verified information, multiple perspectives, and contextual understanding of global affairs.
