WhatsApp, the messaging app for which Facebook is shelling out a whopping $19 billion, went down for hours just days after the acquisition.
WhatsApp acknowledged the outage through a tweet, which was retweeted over 25,000 times.
“Sorry we currently experiencing server issues. We hope to be back up and recovered shortly,” wrote WhatsApp.
The downtime was mocked for the fact that the messaging app was down just days after Facebook announced its acquisition plans.
The downtime lasted for around 3 hours during which some users reported that they were unable to connect, while others were able to connect but were not able to send messages. The downtime lasted on Saturday night 20:00 GMT to 23:00 GMT. Users claimed that by 23:00 they were able to connect and send messages without any issues.
“WhatsApp service has been restored. We are so sorry for the downtime…,” tweeted WhatsApp at around 22:48 GMT.
The cross-platform messaging app currently has 450 million monthly active users and according to reports it is adding a million every day.
WhatsApp didn’t clarify the reason behind the outage, but some speculate that the service’s servers were overloaded because of surge in signups after Facebook’s acquisition announcement.
Facebook’s intentions behind WhatsApp acquisition are not clear and it is claimed by various media outlets that Google had bid far higher than Facebook’s bid as a desperate attempt to lure WhatsApp founders to sign on the dotted line.
Privacy of users questioned
Privacy watchdogs have already raised alerts over the acquisition and Thilo Weichert, data protection commissioner for the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, has advised users to jump ship and start using messaging app alternatives that are pro-privacy.
Weichert said that the deal would lead to serious data protection issues as Whatsapp’s users’ personal data will likely be merged with Facebook data.
We are not sure if this appeal worked, but WhatsApp alternative Threema managed to garner 200,000 new users in 24 hours of the acquisition announcement and even managed to top German App Store charts.
