At 10 pm on October 4, serious trouble occurred with Facebook and Messenger. Facebookers reported that they could not access Facebook. The Facebook mobile app was accessible, but it was unable to download new information on bulletin board.

Ha Ngan in Belgium told VietNamNet that she has had no access to the most popular apps such as Facebook and Instagram since late afternoon of October 4, local time. The same thing occurred with WhatsApp and Messenger and messaging could not be done.

DownDetector showed that since late at night on October 4, Vietnam time, access to the most common social network platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger could not be implemented in the usual way.

The most common problems were inaccessibility to the website and app, and disconnection with the servers of the platforms providing OTT (over the top) messaging services and social networks.

The report of DownDetector showed that the trouble occurred all over the globe and in nearly all countries in Asia, Europe and America.

Ngan told VietNamNet that the outage paralyzed her communications with friends.

“The only messaging tool I can use at this moment is Zalo. However, I can use Zalo to communicate with friends in Vietnam only,” she said.

Duc Manh from Osaka, Japan, told VietNamNet that he was unable to contact friends on Facebook. However, later, he could manage to resume contacts via other well-known social networks in Japan, such as Line and Twitter.

Using the group chatting tool on Messenger for his work, Minh Huy in Cau Giay district in Hanoi is aware of the risk because he relies a lot on Facebook and Messenger.

As a media executive, Huy has to keep contact with co-workers and managers. When the outage occurred with Facebook, Huy and his co-workers could not think of other solutions except telephone calls to maintain communications.

According to Wearesocial, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger are the most popular apps on the Internet in 2021. These platforms all belong to Facebook.

In Vietnam, 91.7 percent of Internet users use Facebook. The figures are 75.8 percent for Messenger and 53.5 percent for Instagram.

Of the 15 most popular apps in Vietnam in 2021, Zalo is the only Vietnamese app mentioned. It’s estimated that 76.5 percent of Vietnamese Internet users use Zalo. 

Trong Dat

Big Tech and opportunities for social networks of a new generation

As the world is curbing the influence of tech giants, this presents an opportunity for Vietnamese social networks to create a foothold by finding their own directions.

Australia requires Facebook to pay for news: lessons for Vietnam

Australia has been at the forefront of an uphill battle against tech giants, though it's still at a starting point.