Amazon Web Services Outage Disrupts Major Online Platforms

On October 20, 2025, a substantial outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) caused widespread disruptions across numerous online platforms. The incident began around 3:11 AM ET, affecting services such as Venmo, Snapchat, Canva, Fortnite, and Amazon's own Alexa.

AWS identified the root cause as a DNS resolution issue within its DynamoDB API, a core database service. By 6:35 AM ET, the company reported that the DNS issue had been fully mitigated, though some services continued to experience elevated error rates.

The outage underscored the internet's reliance on AWS's cloud infrastructure, with many companies utilizing the US-EAST-1 region for their deployments. This dependency led to a cascading effect, impacting a broad range of services and highlighting the potential risks associated with centralized cloud services.

As of mid-morning, AWS was working towards full resolution, advising clients to avoid tying new deployments to specific Availability Zones to facilitate recovery. The company acknowledged the significant impact on its own services and those of its customers, emphasizing its commitment to restoring normal operations.