Elon Musk claims a 'massive cyberattack' was behind X’s latest outage, affecting thousands of users. Experts question the cause amid ongoing platform issues.
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| Musk alleges a coordinated cyberattack caused a widespread outage on X, affecting thousands of users. The platform’s stability remains under scrutiny. Image: ChicHue |
New York, USA — March 11, 2025:
Elon Musk’s claim that a “massive cyberattack” caused X’s latest outage has once again highlighted the platform’s ongoing struggles with technical stability and security. The disruption, which affected tens of thousands of users, raises questions about the resilience of the social media giant under Musk’s ownership and the plausibility of his assertion that a well-resourced group or even a nation-state may have been responsible, reads a CNN post.
The outage began around noon on Monday, peaking at approximately 40,000 user complaints before subsiding, according to Downdetector. The majority of the issues were concentrated on the U.S. coasts, with disruptions affecting both the app and the website. While service interruptions are not uncommon for major digital platforms, the scale and persistence of this particular incident drew immediate attention. Musk, in characteristic fashion, framed the event as part of a larger battle against cyber threats, suggesting that X is regularly targeted but that this attack was exceptional in scope and sophistication.
While Musk’s claims have not been substantiated by independent cybersecurity experts, the nature of the attack—if indeed a cyberattack was responsible—could have significant implications. If a nation-state or highly organized entity was involved, it would suggest a direct attempt to undermine the platform’s operations. However, without further evidence, the possibility that the outage was due to internal technical failures rather than external interference cannot be ruled out.
This is not the first time X has suffered significant disruptions. Since Musk took over the platform, there have been multiple outages and glitches, including an incident in March 2023 when Twitter, as it was then known, experienced widespread failures affecting logins, links, and images. The pattern of recurring technical problems has led to speculation that the company's rapid restructuring, mass layoffs, and shifts in engineering priorities may have weakened its infrastructure.
If X continues to experience such disruptions, user confidence may erode, particularly if the company fails to provide transparent explanations backed by cybersecurity experts. Musk’s approach to these issues—emphasizing external threats rather than potential internal shortcomings—risks raising more skepticism than reassurance. The outage also underscores a broader challenge for social media platforms: ensuring robust security and reliability while maintaining an open and accessible service.
Whether this incident was the result of an orchestrated cyberattack or internal instability remains an open question. What is clear is that X, under Musk’s leadership, continues to navigate a period of significant turbulence, with technical challenges playing a central role in shaping its future.