Web Desk: Several high-profile websites and online services, including X (formerly Twitter), ChatGPT, canva and others were hit by widespread outages following technical issues at internet infrastructure provider Cloudflare. The disruption began shortly after 11:30 GMT, with thousands of users reporting problems accessing various platforms.
Cloudflare Confirms Technical Fault
Cloudflare acknowledged the issue on its service status page at 11:48 UTC, stating that it was “aware of, and investigating an issue which potentially impacts multiple customers.” The company reported widespread 500 errors, while its own Dashboard and API were also failing. In a later update, Cloudflare said it was beginning to see partial recovery, but warned that users might continue to experience elevated error rates as remediation efforts continued.
Disruption Hits Major Global Platforms
The issue affected several globally recognized platforms reliant on Cloudflare services, including X and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Although OpenAI is investigating the disruptions, it has not confirmed whether Cloudflare’s malfunction caused them. Some users also reported interruptions in multiplayer gaming services and digital tools.
Even Downdetector, a website commonly used by people to track outages, briefly showed error messages as traffic surged from users trying to verify the status of affected services.
Underlying Role of Cloudflare
Cloudflare plays a vital role in maintaining global internet stability. It protects websites against cyberattacks, manages heavy web traffic, and verifies whether visitors are real users rather than automated bots. The company says its technology supports nearly 20 percent of all websites worldwide.
Cloudflare also planned a scheduled maintenance session for its Santiago, Chile data center on Tuesday, although it remains unclear whether it contributed to the disruption.
Experts Warn of Internet Vulnerability
Recent outages, including incidents involving Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure last month, have prompted experts to highlight the fragility of the modern internet. They warn that disruptions at only a handful of major service providers can cause ripple effects across thousands of websites and applications worldwide.
Cloudflare said it is working to fully understand the scope of the problem and restore all affected services. More information is expected as investigations continue.
