Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Your Instagram Account Wasn’t Hacked, Says Instagram

Everybody just calm down!

via YouTube

Instagram experienced some technical difficulties on Wednesday, leading many of the app’s 400 million-plus users to go to Twitter to complain that their accounts had been hacked.

Not so, says Instagram! The company tweeted that there was a bug in the system and that everyone’s account is fine. Collective sigh of relief.

It’s not uncommon for sites like Instagram or Facebook or Twitter to go down every now and then with a temporary bug. But this issue wasn’t just affecting the app’s ability to load images — it actually booted users out of the app and sent them a message that “the account user may have changed the password.”

These error messages were sent, well, in error, Instagram claims. Your passwords are fine.

The issue did generate some panic from people who weren’t sure whether their passwords had been compromised. Enjoy these tweets from people who freaked out over the outage before going back to mindlessly scrolling through your feed.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Technology
The case for AI realismThe case for AI realism
Technology

AI isn’t going to be the end of the world — no matter what this documentary sometimes argues.

By Shayna Korol
Politics
OpenAI’s oddly socialist, wildly hypocritical new economic agendaOpenAI’s oddly socialist, wildly hypocritical new economic agenda
Politics

The AI company released a set of highly progressive policy ideas. There’s just one small problem.

By Eric Levitz
Future Perfect
Human bodies aren’t ready to travel to Mars. Space medicine can help.Human bodies aren’t ready to travel to Mars. Space medicine can help.
Future Perfect

Protecting astronauts in space — and maybe even Mars — will help transform health on Earth.

By Shayna Korol
Podcasts
The importance of space toilets, explainedThe importance of space toilets, explained
Podcast
Podcasts

Houston, we have a plumbing problem.

By Peter Balonon-Rosen and Sean Rameswaram
Technology
What happened when they installed ChatGPT on a nuclear supercomputerWhat happened when they installed ChatGPT on a nuclear supercomputer
Technology

How they’re using AI at the lab that created the atom bomb.

By Joshua Keating
Future Perfect
Humanity’s return to the moon is a deeply religious missionHumanity’s return to the moon is a deeply religious mission
Future Perfect

Space barons like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk don’t seem religious. But their quest to colonize outer space is.

By Sigal Samuel