Social media platform X faced multiple outages on Monday with several users being unable to load to sight. Around 40,000 users reported problems with the platform around 10 a.m. ET, according to the analytics platform Downdetector. Around 28,000 people were experiencing issues as of 11:30 a.m. ET, and about 22,000 people were having trouble with the site as of 2:00 p.m. ET.
CEO Elon Musk claimed, in an X post, that this was the result of a cyberattack against X. “There was (still is) a massive cyberattack against X. We get attacked every day, but this was done with a lot of resources. Either a large, coordinated group and/or a country is involved. Tracing …,” the post read.
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He later claimed that the attack came from IP addresses based in Ukraine. “We’re not sure exactly what happened but there was a massive cyber-attack to try and bring down the X system with IP [Internet Protocol] addresses originating in the Ukraine area,” he said. However, Musk did not provide any evidence for the claim, which has been contested by experts.
Ciaran Martin, professor at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government and former head of the UK’s National Cyber Security Center told the BBC the explanation was “wholly unconvincing.” Other cybersecurity experts pointed out that even if those claims are true, it doesn’t necessarily mean the attack occurred from Ukraine.
Musk also recently stoked controversy for his statements on the war in Ukraine, and criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He also got into a spat with Democratic Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, whom he called a “traitor,” after he posted about his visit to Ukraine.
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Meanwhile, Musk is also facing issues with Tesla, his electric car company. Tesla shares have suffered the worst drop in half a decade, losing more than 50% of its market capitalization, equal to nearly $800 billion.
While Musk says he is running his businesses with great difficulty, he also noted that “it will be fine, long term.” This comes amid Musk taking up a role in the Trump administration as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), engaged in a controversial effort to downsize government spending and employee headcount. DOGE’s actions have also led to nationwide protests against Tesla.