Messaging service WhatsApp is not working since just after noon across the globe in what is being seen as its biggest outage ever.

Prominent online tool Down Detector started noticing unusually high “problem reports” at 12.07 pm, and had listed thousands of such reports by 1 pm in India, WhatsApp’s biggest market by user base. Most reports were about messages not going through, at 69 per cent, while others reported server disconnection and the app crashing altogether.

Social media users from Italy and Turkey also posted about not being able to send messages. The messaging service is down for users across the UK, the BBC reported.

Over 2 billion users rely on WhatsApp for communication and payments. 

The company said it’s working on bringing it back up. “We’re aware that some people are currently having trouble sending messages and we’re working to restore WhatsApp for everyone as quickly as possible,” said a spokesperson of Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram besides WhatsApp. 

A meme fest with the hashtag #WhatsAppDown began on Twitter and other platforms. Many users said they first thought their internet service was the problem.

So I was blaming my WiFi but actually I got to check on Twitter that the WhatsApp is down. @WhatsApp#whatsappdownpic.twitter.com/43tuT6cyol

— Mohsin Shafique (@Mohsinkhan7__) October 25, 2022

Another meme had a shot of Farhan Akhtar, from the movie Milkha Singh, “running to check on Twitter if WhatsApp is down”.

Everyone running to #Twitter to check on #Whatsapp#whatsappdownpic.twitter.com/MEm6MpegWQ

— Aarti Patil (@aartipatil92) October 25, 2022

It’s the first major WhatsApp outage since last year.