Users visiting Instagram online were shown a simple error message saying '5xx Server Error', with no other information provided. Some Facebook users were able to sign in to the app, although 63 percent of reports on downdetector.com suggested there was a 'total blackout'. There was a sudden spike of reports on downdetector for the Facebook owned services, with the outage affecting the entire Facebook social product line. Last year Facebook moved to unify the back end systems of Facebook Messenger and Instagram, effectively merging the two chat platforms. This was the first phase in a new unified messaging service for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Source: The Nation March 19, 2021 20:03 UTC