Twitter suffered a brief but unprecedented outage on Monday, with users worldwide reporting that they could no longer read links to external articles. The company’s tech support account tweeted, “Some parts of Twitter may not be working as expected right now,” attributing the problem to “unintended consequences” from a platform update. The issue appeared to be resolved in less than an hour.
The outage occurred as the Elon Musk‑owned social media giant continues to grapple with stability after multiple rounds of layoffs that have eliminated more than two‑thirds of its staff. Experts warn that operating with a skeleton crew makes Twitter vulnerable not only to technical failures but also to disinformation and harmful content, given the reduced capacity to maintain the site.
During the disruption, users who clicked on links were met with an error message stating, “your API plan does not include access to this endpoint.” An API (Application Programming Interface) is Twitter software made available to external developers for building their own adaptations of the platform. Last month, Twitter announced it would discontinue free access for outside developers as it seeks new revenue streams.
Since Musk acquired Twitter, the platform has been plagued by chaos, including the exodus of major advertisers, which threatens its primary source of revenue. “A small API change had massive ramifications,” Musk tweeted about Monday’s disruption. He added, “The code stack is extremely brittle for no good reason. Will ultimately need a complete rewrite,” referring to the platform’s programming and software.
The latest technical glitch follows reports of another round of layoffs affecting product managers, big‑data experts, and engineers working on machine learning and platform reliability. It adds to a series of recent mishaps, such as an incident where Musk’s tweets suddenly dominated the feeds of millions of users, even those who do not follow him.
According to Insider Intelligence, Twitter’s total monthly users are projected to decline by about 32 million between 2022 and 2024, falling from 368 million worldwide last year. With many brands departing, the social network’s revenue and adjusted profit dropped roughly 40 percent year‑on‑year in December, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources close to the company. Musk has attempted to shift Twitter away from advertising toward subscription revenue—a strategy also being tested by Meta’s Facebook—but so far the results have been disappointing.
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