Billions of users found Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp inaccessible, prompting a company apology. Plus, the world according to Stevie Van Zandt

Good morning.

Facebook had a terrible day on Monday. The social media company experienced one of the worst outages in its history, leaving users around the world unable to access its platforms, including Instagram and WhatsApp, for several hours.

What did Mark Zuckerberg say about the outage? He apologized on Facebook once the website was back online, but did not provide an explanation, adding: “I know how much you rely on our services to stay connected with the people you care about.”

Was Facebook hacked? There was no evidence that the issue was caused by malicious activity, Associated Press reported, and the problem could have only originated from within the company. Facebook said it had no evidence that user data was compromised.

What will Haugen tell the senators? She is expected to say Facebook faces little oversight, and will urge Congress to take action. “As long as Facebook is operating in the dark, it is accountable to no one,” she wrote in her written testimony.

Researchers analysed the health records of 3 million people between December 2020 and August 2021. During the study period, 5.4% of people were infected with Sars-CoV-2. Among those who were infected, 6.6% were hospitalised. The average time since being fully vaccinated was between three and four months.

“Our study confirms that vaccines are a critical tool for controlling the pandemic and remain highly effective in preventing severe disease,” said the study’s lead author, Dr Sara Tartof.