Whatsapp And Instagram Currently Down In Indonesia Following Riots in Jakarta

On the 22nd of May, which is today, multiple users across the country of Indonesia has been complaining about not being able to send messages or upload pictures on Whatsapp and Instagram. This downtime seems to happen only around Indonesia.

Just recently, we’ve also received news that Instagram has once again been hacked. Millions of personal information containing email addresses and phone numbers of famous influencers are out in the open. Whatsapp recent update came with a bug that allowed motivated actors to hijack phones with spyware.

While those seem to be related, it appears that this downtime is related to the political situation in Indonesia.

Just a few days ago, a man has been allegedly spreading terror messages through Whatsapp, inviting people to install bombs in several areas in Jakarta. While the man has been captured, the government is still wary of the tensing situation. Military forces have also been deployed in several areas where riots are rumored to happen.

Whatsapp has been shut down for the day to prevent hoax from spreading too quick. Other social media platforms are also shut down, however, it doesn’t seem like everyone is affected. Several people can still upload stories to Instagram.

And so, is there any social media platform Indonesia can use now?

Yeah, Twitter, which has made the temporary shutdown of multiple social media platforms a trending topic there. So, if you have friends from Indonesia who don’t seem to be reading or replying to your Whatsapp texts, fret not, your friend is not ignoring you. It’s just the government trying to keep everything under control.