The outage that hit Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram has spurred countless conspiracy theories to what caused the platforms to cease operation for two hours.
Taylor Swift has become a unlikely reason for the glitch – some claimed her her Instagram story telling her followers to vote took down the social media platforms.
Others posts on Elon Musk‘s X said it was a result of underwater data cables being cut in the Red Sea of the New World Order.
Many of the posts pointed to liberals attempting to stop Super Tuesday from taking place, but others believed it could have been Nikki Haley supporters due to the presidential candidate hosting ads on radio, print and television.
Conspiracy theorists flocked to X to accuse Meta’s outage of ‘silencing’ them
Conspiracy theorists believe Taylor Swift is conspiring to get President Joe Biden re-elected
The outage hit Meta’s platforms around 10am ET and lasted until a little after 12pm ET.
While the company blamed ‘technical issues,’ the public cooked up ideas of their own to what caused it – and the popstar was one of them.
An ongoing theory that Taylor Swift is pushing people to vote against Trump was exemplified after the outage, cementing people’s original belief that she is trying to influence the presidential election.
Swift posted a message on her Instagram Story telling people to head to the polls, saying: ‘I want to remind you guys to vote the people who most represent YOU into power.
‘If you haven’t already, make a plan to vote today.’
The outage reportedly occurred shortly after Swift’s post, and people accused the popstar of being against right-wing voters, saying she is ‘trapped in a debilitating mindset.’
Swift has been a trailblazer for her followers – self-proclaimed ‘Swifties’ – and the most recent question asks whether she could sway her fanbase to vote for one presidential candidate over another.
President Joe Biden’s campaign has even gone so far as to try to lock down her endorsement, while Trump’s allies have declared a ‘holy war’ on the popstar and Fox News commentators urged her to keep her political ideologies locked down.
However, conspiracy theorists believe Swift could affect the turnout by telling people to head to the polls, and secure a win for Biden.
Her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has also promoted theories that the pair is using their celebrity status to rig the 2024 presidential election in favor of Biden.
Others posted on X that the glitch happened because Taylor Swift told her some-odd 200 million followers on Instagram to vote
People accused Taylor Swift of causing the outage and trying to influence people’s voting decisions
Meta’s social media outage also spurred conspiracy theories that the cables cut in the Red Sea caused users to be locked out of their accounts.
One person wrote on X: ‘Red sea underwater internet cables damaged…..some one wanted TikTok down but got d wrong cable cut,’ while another wrote that someone ‘cut the Red Sea cable for Meta.’
Three cables under the Red Sea that provides internet and telecommunications was cut on Monday, a full 24 hours before Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger experienced the two-hour outage.
There is suspicion that the cables were targeted by Yemen’s Houthi rebels as part of an ongoing effort to pressure Israel to end the war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The Houthis have denied accusations that they attacked the cable lines.
Conspiracy theories ran rampant after the outage
Many of the posts pointed to liberals attempting to stop Super Tuesday from taking place, but others believed it could have been Nikki Haley supporters due to the presidential candidate hosting ads on radio, print and television
Others posted on X said it was a result of underwater data cables being cut in the Red Sea of the New World Order
A Facebook inside source told DailyMail.com that the company’s internal systems were down and may have led to Tuesday’s outage.
But the fact that it was a global outage didn’t stop American conspiracy theorists from rushing to claim it was a blatant attempt to stand in the way of their right to free speech.
‘Nationwide AT&T outage recently and now FB and Instagram experienced a worldwide outage… it’s not coincidental and is all planned,’ one person wrote on Facebook once they were able to get back into their account.
‘They keep warning about cyber attacks and possible EMP attacks. This is all a part of the New World Order coming soon,’ they added.
The New World Order is a conspiracy theory that the government has an agenda to create a totalitarian world power
For those who don’t know, the New World Order is a conspiracy theory that believes the government has an agenda to quietly create a totalitarian world power.
Former President Donald Trump is going up against Republican candidate Nikki Haley in the Super Tuesday primaries to determine who will face off against President Joe Biden in November.
Super Tuesday voting is held in a majority of U.S. states including Vermont, Virginia, Alaska, Maine, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.
Meta’s social media platforms went down for roughly two hours, locking many users out of their accounts and people questioned if it was a ‘voting coincidence or conspiracy.’
The outage affected other countries including the UK, other parts of Europe, China, Australia, and Mexico.
Other users clapped back at the ludicrous conspiracy theory, with one person writing on X: ‘This is stupid. WTF does Facebook or Instagram have to do with voting?
‘You show up and you vote (or mail in your ballot, in which case you’ve probably already voted).
‘They are unrelated. Everything’s not a grand conspiracy people. Calm down!’
Users on X accused Meta’s outage of trying to interfere in the presidential race, with another person writing: ‘Facebook and Instagram go down on Super Tuesday as @realDonaldTrump is destroying the polls.
‘It’s not even conspiracy anymore, they just do it right in front of our faces.’
Users accused Meta of trying to influence Super Tuesday’s outcome at the polls
Social media users are linking the Meta outage to AT&T’s outage on February 23, claiming the conspiracy extends to the phone company that left millions of people unable to make calls or send texts without WiFi.
‘CONSPIRACY THEORY ! FB just experienced an outage/disruption on a TUESDAY. Some reports are saying that HACKERS are getting ready – PRACTICING – for upcoming elections also called SUPER TUESDAYS…… unconfirmed reports of course…….,’ one person wrote on Facebook.
They added: ‘In this DIGITAL / WI-FI / INTERNET age/Era, we always need to stay vigilant with our personal info/ data & personal safety. Stay Alert. Stay Safe. Stay Alive.’