A massive internet outage on 18 November disrupted several major websites, including X and ChatGPT, after cloud-service provider Cloudflare faced a severe technical failure. The disruption caused slow loading, error pages, and complete downtime across multiple global platforms, triggering widespread confusion among users.
Cloudflare’s Chief Technology Officer, Dane Knecht, issued an explanation, confirming that a system malfunction within Cloudflare triggered the large-scale outage. He said the incident temporarily crippled the company’s ability to manage and filter internet traffic efficiently.
Millions of websites worldwide depend on Cloudflare for speed, security, and protection against online threats. The company’s network not only shields platforms from cyberattacks but also blocks harmful automated traffic known as “bad bots” — programs that overload websites, attempt hacking, or generate fake traffic.
The outage highlighted how deeply the internet ecosystem relies on backend services like Cloudflare. As the issue was resolved, services gradually returned to normal, but the event exposed the complexities and vulnerabilities of the global web infrastructure.
