Popular photo-sharing and messaging app Snapchat has been suffering a major outage for the last five hours that has seen users unable to access the service.
Snapchat went offline on Tuesday, preventing users from logging in, sharing photos and messages or accessing the Discover section.
Hi! Some Snapchatters are currently experiencing loading issues. Our team is aware of the problem and working on a fix now!
— Snapchat Support (@snapchatsupport) December 8, 2015
Some users have not been able to log in, others have been unable to refresh their feeds. The outage appears to be affecting Europe and the US.
The service, which is credited by some with starting the ephemeral messaging craze, has more than 100 million daily users who watch around 2bn videos daily, according to the company’s chief executive Evan Spiegel.
Snapchat has gained traction with a younger demographic than the majority of social networking services that have attempted a push into news, including Twitter and Facebook.
It has made the company’s Discover news section appealing to media companies looking to expand their target audience, particularly to sites aiming to reach younger people.
Snapchat has not confirmed the extent of the outage or when it will be rectified.
