Key Takeaways
- AWS outage affects major platforms including Perplexity, Snapchat, Canva, and Fortnite
- Outage began Monday morning, coinciding with Diwali celebrations worldwide
- US-EAST-1 region experiencing “increased error rates and latencies”
- No resolution timeline provided as of noon EDT
A massive Amazon Web Services outage has disrupted major digital platforms worldwide, affecting millions of users during Diwali celebrations. The widespread server failure has taken down popular services including Perplexity AI, Snapchat, Canva, and Fortnite since Monday morning.
Major Platforms Affected
The AWS outage has created a domino effect across the digital ecosystem. Perplexity AI was among the first to acknowledge the disruption, with CEO Aravind Srinivas confirming on X: “Perplexity is down right now. The root cause is an AWS issue. We’re working on resolving it.”
Other affected services include:
- Snapchat login failures
- Fortnite server errors mid-game
- Canva design tool freezes
- Signal encrypted messaging disruptions
- Roblox virtual world access issues
- Prime Video streaming interruptions
Outage Details and Impact
AWS’s status dashboard confirmed the problem originated in its US-EAST-1 region, reporting “increased error rates and latencies” across multiple services since 12:11 a.m. PDT. The outage has also affected The New York Times’ Wordle game, McDonald’s app orders, and Airtable’s productivity suite.
Thousands of user complaints flooded Downdetector, with spikes beginning around 3 a.m. EDT. As of noon, AWS promised updates every 30-45 minutes but has not provided a resolution timeline.
Diwali Disruption
The timing couldn’t be worse for millions celebrating Diwali worldwide. The outage has severely disrupted digital engagement during one of the year’s peak connectivity periods, when families and friends typically connect online for festive greetings and celebrations.
Social media users have been sharing their experiences and reactions to the widespread service disruptions, though AWS has yet to provide comprehensive updates on the outage resolution.
