This archive report was first published on 17 July 2019.
On July 17, 2019, Facebook users in the UK and US reported a bizarre issue where the 'Status Update' box had disappeared from their news feeds, leaving them unable to post comments, photos, or videos.
According to website DownDetector.com, which monitors online outages, the problem started at 12:01. A Facebook spokesperson acknowledged the issue, stating, "We’re aware that some people are currently having trouble accessing features on Facebook.com. We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible.”
However, the issue only seemed to affect the desktop version of Facebook, and users could still post updates from their profile pages. One user noted, "Nowhere to type a post in the news feed, but am able to do it when I go to my home page."
Interestingly, the news coincided with reports of issues with the Instagram app, with users in the US reporting that the app was crashing when they tried to open it on their smartphones.
