Twitter down: Thousands of users report problems with links and images

Social platform is back to normal after 'internal change that had some unintended consequences'

Users were reporting issues viewing images or clicking on links on Twitter's app and website. AP

An "internal change" made at Twitter on Monday led to thousands of users reporting problems with the social media platform, with images and links appearing to be broken for many.

Website Downdetector reported that the social platform was accessible for most people, but more than 8,000 incidents were reported before normal service resumed.

Downdetector tracks problems with websites by collating status reports from a number of sources, including user-submitted errors.

After about 90 minutes of issues, a tweet from Twitter Support read: "Things should now be working as normal. Thanks for sticking with us!"

The company said: "We made an internal change that had some unintended consequences."

Users reported seeing an error message when clicking on a link through the Twitter app or website.

The error message read: “Your current API plan does not include access to this endpoint”. It also suggests visiting a developer page about Twitter's API.

An API is how computer programmes “talk” to each other and pass along information in order for users to gain access to features such as images, videos or links.

Users could not view uploaded images, video or graphics for link previews.

People have experienced issues including widespread global cuts to services in the months after billionaire Elon Musk purchased Twitter.

Mr Musk tweeted during the issues: "This platform is so brittle (sigh)."

Twitter announced that it would end free access to its API, which previously allowed third parties to develop apps and tools to use with Twitter. It is not clear if Monday's issues are connected to the expected change.

Agencies contributed to this report