Facebook shares collapse due to global blackout that includes WhatsApp and Instagram

The stock price opened at $ 334.55 and four hours later hit a low of $ 323.13, more than $ 10 lower, to stabilize at $ 325.

The market was surprised by the IT giant’s lack of response and explanation to justify such a decline in services.

“We know that a lot of people have problems accessing our applications and products,” the Facebook spokesperson said on Twitter.

He explained that the company “is working to get things back to normal and we will update here as soon as possible.”

Corn The cause which affects the services is unknown and which raised the alarm in the markets.

The error message on the Facebook website suggested a Domain Name Systems (DNS) error.

DNS allows web addresses to take users to their destinations.

Facebook bought Instagram on April 9, 2012, after paying $ 1 billion in cash and stocks.

Two years later, it acquired WhatsApp, in February 2014, for $ 1.9 billion, of which it paid $ 4 billion in cash, $ 12 billion in Facebook shares and $ 3 billion in exclusive shares for the founders of WhatsApp, Jan Koum and Brian. Influence.

The group of companies has a market valuation of $ 914.8 billion and ranks sixth in the ranking of the world’s largest companies, behind Apple, Saudi Aramco, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet (Google).

Complaint and scandal

Facebook’s service outage comes a day after a woman, who leaked company documents to U.S. officials claiming her products fuel hatred and harm children’s mental health, appeared on television to reveal his identity.

Frances Haugen, a 37-year-old data expert, has worked for Google and Pinterest, and said Facebook is “substantially worse” than what she had seen before.

The world’s largest social network was engulfed in a storm because of Haugen.

Members of Congress and The Wall Street Journal spoke about how Facebook knows its products, including Instagram, are harming girls, especially when it comes to body image.

Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president for politics and global affairs, dismissed the fact that the company’s platforms are “toxic” to teens.

Beyond Facebook, the New York Stock Exchange in general is having one of its worst days in recent months.

The S&P 500 index fell 1.4%, while the Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.1%.

The price of U.S. crude rose 2.6% to $ 77 per barrel for the first time since 2014.

OPEC and its allies have decided to maintain their policy of gradually increasing production, after the severe reduction applied during the pandemic.

In Asia, the Hong Kong index fell more than 2% after the suspension of transactions by Chinese real estate company Evergrande.