Elon Musk announced on Monday that his social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), was experiencing a large-scale cyberattack. This has sparked debate over whether the billionaire is being deliberately targeted due to his political stance or if the platform’s vulnerabilities stem from significant staff reductions following his takeover.
Reports of disruptions began early Monday, with users across Asia, Europe, and North America struggling to access the site, as tracked by Downdetector. Throughout the day, intermittent access was restored, but issues persisted. Musk took to X to confirm the situation, stating, “There is still a massive cyberattack against X.”
This is not the first time Musk has blamed a cyberattack for platform instability. Last year, a similar claim was made when X experienced technical failures just as an interview with Donald Trump was set to be streamed. Once again, Musk did not provide concrete evidence to support his assertion.
Musk also reshared a post from an account called DogeDesigner, which suggested that the attack was part of a broader campaign against him, citing recent protests against the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which he oversees, as well as vandalism at Tesla facilities. He speculated that the attack required immense resources, suggesting it was orchestrated by either a nation-state or a highly coordinated group. During an interview with Fox Business, Musk alleged that some of the computers involved had digital footprints tracing back to the Ukraine region, though he admitted X was still investigating the situation.
Cybersecurity analysts have weighed in on the incident, cautioning that without direct access to X’s internal data, it is difficult to confirm the nature of the attack. However, the prolonged outage does indicate a serious disruption. Chad Cragle from the cybersecurity firm Deepwatch described the event as “cyberwar hitting at full force,” noting that Musk’s prominence and rising political tensions could make him a prime target for such attacks.
Meanwhile, former U.S. President Donald Trump has faced increasing scrutiny over deep budget cuts overseen by Musk as part of DOGE’s restructuring efforts. Responding to concerns, Trump recently posted on Truth Social that federal downsizing should be carried out with precision rather than sweeping reductions, emphasizing the need for careful decision-making. His comments marked the first public move to limit Musk’s influence over federal staffing policies.
As DOGE’s cost-cutting initiatives continue to draw legal challenges and opposition from lawmakers, Trump has reportedly convened his cabinet to reassert that department heads, not Musk, remain in charge of their respective agencies.
The widespread outages on X affected tens of thousands of users, with peak reports surpassing 40,000, according to monitoring sources. Since Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in late 2022, a significant portion of its workforce has either left or been laid off, raising ongoing concerns about whether the platform has the technical expertise to maintain stability and security. Under his leadership, X has encountered multiple technical glitches and has been criticized for reinstating banned accounts linked to conspiracy theories and Trump. Advocacy groups argue that misinformation has thrived under Musk’s watch, as he himself has been accused of amplifying false narratives to his massive online following.
As X attempts to recover from the latest disruption, questions remain about the platform’s long-term stability and the true source of the attack Musk claims to have identified.
