X users howl into the void as timelines fail to load
- Reference: 1771255333
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/02/16/x_timeline_outage/
- Source link:
X (formerly Twitter) does not have a status page to indicate what is up or down, although its Developer Platform Status page [1]said : "All systems are operational." A glance at the incident history page shows that everything has been hunky dory so far in February.
However, for users expecting to see their timeline filled with the usual content, there is only emptiness. X.com appears to still be online, but the timeline is not loading.
[2]
X timeline not loading
Other users, according to xAI's Grok chatbot, have also experienced login failures, app or website load and refresh failures, and error messages across mobile apps and desktop.
The Register contacted the company to find out what happened, and how long the outage is likely to last, but we have yet to receive a response.
[3]
Problems started around 1300 UTC, and reports have flowed into the Downdetector website. The outage appears to be worldwide.
[4]Elon Musk paints exodus of xAI co-founders as 'evolution'
[5]The UK government isn't spending much taxpayer cash on X
[6]EU looking into Elon Musk's X after Grok produces deepfake sex images
[7]Stop dragging feet on AI nudification ban, UK government told
One user [8]noted : "The world is temporarily a better place."
X was last knocked offline after a [9]recent outage at Cloudflare , although the cause of today's issue is not yet revealed. With luck, Musk will explain when the service staggers back to its feet.
[10]
Several users of rival services reacted with glee to the platform's misfortune. One on Bluesky [11]posted : "Good news."
Musk acquired Twitter in 2022 in a [12]deal worth $44 billion . He dispensed with many employees and rebranded the company as X. The platform has since weathered an initial exodus of advertisers and users, as well as controversy after its AI chatbot, Grok, [13]described itself as "MechaHitler" in 2025 , which sent the X team scrambling to remove "inappropriate posts." ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://docs.x.com/status
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/02/16/x_down.png
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aZNNMQQAU4P7GIN-xSDNAgAAAU4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/12/musk_xai_departures/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/12/uk_government_x_spend/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/26/ec_open_new_investigation_into/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/14/uk_government_nudification_ban/
[8] https://www.reddit.com/r/outages/comments/1r69zm6/comment/o5onkj6/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/18/cloudflare_outage/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aZNNMQQAU4P7GIN-xSDNAgAAAU4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://bsky.app/profile/ashekirk.bsky.social/post/3mey7ywnkh22q
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/25/elon_musk_buys_twitter/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/09/grok_nazi/
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
This is not funny!
Now where do I get my misinformation from without having X?
Re: This is not funny!
" Now where do I get my misinformation from without having X? "
Truth Social ? Pravda ? Sky ?
I guess the real question is the negation of yours viz where do I not get my misinformation ?
Inside surface of a cardboard bogroll core would be favourite.
The truth might be out there but is decidedly coy; certainly not easily discoverable.
Does anyone reckon that the teen Space Karen had the hots for agent Scully ? Might explain the the whole X thing. (Not saying Gillian Anderson wasn't hot.:)
Excellent
Desired state achieved (not that I ever noticed or ever would), freeze all changes now.
By the way, regarding "With luck, Musk will explain when the service staggers back to its feet.": please don't.
The first 100% AI managed service to fail…
permanently ?
Can only hope.
It is an (X X), it'll Xeet no more.
Somebody included rm -rf / in a post and Grok read it as a prompt.
Working as designed
They rolled out a Nazi content filter and it filtered just the Nazi posts from everyone's timeline.
Nothing of value was lost
I truly wonder why anyone bothered with that cesspit any more.
Oh dear.
How sad.
Never mind.