X Goes Down – Musk Points to Cyberattack as Cause

On Monday morning, thousands of users—especially in the U.S.—found themselves unable to access Elon Musk’s social media platform, X. After nearly eight hours of disruptions, Musk took to X to explain the situation, claiming the platform was under a “massive cyberattack.”

“There was (still is) a massive cyberattack against 𝕏. We get attacked every day, but this one was backed by serious resources. Either a large, coordinated group and/or a country is involved. Tracing …” Musk posted.

Musk Points to Ukraine as a Possible Source

Later that day, in a live interview with Fox News, Musk suggested that the attack seemed to originate from IP addresses in the Ukraine region. However, he didn’t provide any concrete evidence to support this claim.

While Musk’s assertion remains unverified, it wouldn’t be shocking if X was targeted by cyberattacks. Since taking over the platform, Musk has positioned himself as a polarizing figure, particularly as he becomes more involved in politics. Under President Donald Trump’s second administration, Musk’s team—nicknamed “DOGE”—has reportedly played a role in cutting government funding, jobs, and international aid programs.

Meanwhile, his influence hasn’t gone unnoticed elsewhere. Tesla stores have seen protests over Musk’s growing power, and Tesla’s stock has also taken a hit amid the controversy.

X Outages Frustrate Thousands of Users

According to Downdetector, a site that monitors online outages, the first wave of issues started around 5:30 a.m. ET, with more than 20,000 users reporting problems. The situation seemed to improve after about an hour, only for another wave of outages to hit around 9:30 a.m. ET, this time affecting over 40,000 users. Some were able to access the platform intermittently, but by 1:30 p.m. ET, the problems persisted.

Frequent outages aren’t unusual for platforms as massive as X, but that doesn’t make them any less frustrating for users. One person vented on Downdetector, “On day one of the NFL free agency!? ELON, fix this.”

As of now, X appears to be up and running again, but Musk’s claim of a major cyberattack raises more questions than answers. Whether this was a routine technical issue or something more sinister remains to be seen.

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