WhatsApp experienced a temporary global outage that prevented many users from sending photos, videos, stickers and GIFs, while text messages continued to function normally in most cases.
Reports of the disruption emerged from the UK, France, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, the US, Germany and India. Users said multimedia files remained stuck while uploading before displaying a "Retry" message. Text messages, however, continued to be delivered for most users.
Downdetector logged a spike in outage reports during the event. Several users noted that WhatsApp Web still allowed media sharing while uploads were failing on the mobile app, indicating the problem was confined to specific services.
The disruption began soon after several users in India reported alerts saying their WhatsApp accounts were under a 24-hour review, temporarily limiting some functions. The message explained that WhatsApp was examining account activity and device details in line with its Terms of Service. A Meta representative said the company routinely checks user activity to curb misuse on the platform. The company has not confirmed any link between these account reviews and the media-sharing outage.
Meta later confirmed that the technical issue had been resolved but did not disclose the cause of the disruption. WhatsApp is used by nearly two billion people worldwide, making service disruptions noticeable across multiple markets. While this incident primarily affected multimedia sharing rather than the entire messaging service, it follows previous outages that have disrupted communication for users and businesses globally.