LONDON, Oct 20: A widespread outage affecting Amazon Web Services (AWS) plunged hundreds of popular websites offline early Monday, leaving users across the globe unable to access platforms such as Snapchat, Fortnite, and Duolingo.

The disruption, which began just after 8:00 a.m. BST, quickly spread, triggering over 12,000 outage reports from U.S.-based users and more than 1,600 complaints in the UK, according to internet monitoring site DownDetector.

The incident highlights the internet’s heavy dependence on AWS, Amazon’s cloud computing division, which powers critical infrastructure for countless digital services, applications, and websites.

Social media platforms, online gaming environments, and educational tools were among the most visibly impacted. Snapchat users reported login failures and message delivery issues, while Fortnite players experienced widespread server disconnections. Duolingo, a widely used language learning app, also went offline, frustrating users mid-lesson.

While Amazon has yet to release a detailed statement explaining the root cause of the outage, early indications suggest a technical fault within AWS’s core services.

This outage comes amid growing scrutiny of cloud service providers and their role in global internet resilience. As businesses, governments, and educational institutions increasingly rely on centralized platforms, such incidents reveal potential vulnerabilities in digital infrastructure.

For comparison, a similar issue was seen earlier this year when Vodafone’s services were disrupted for four hours, sparking customer backlash and highlighting broader concerns over network reliability.

As of the latest updates, services were slowly beginning to recover, but no official timeframe has been given for full restoration.