When Amazon Went Down: A Wake-Up Call

An Amazon Web Services outage is causing major disruptions worldwide. The platform provides cloud computing services to governments, universities, and companies, including The Associated Press.
Image credit: AP

Amazon went down today. Its website, Alexa, Ring cameras, and even AWS, the cloud service that powers many apps, stopped working for hours. Millions of people around the world suddenly felt the impact .

This wasn’t just a small glitch. Apps like Snapchat, Reddit, and Fortnite were affected, and even banks that rely on Amazon’s services experienced problems. In the UK, people couldn’t access Amazon’s website, delivery apps, or lockers.

The outage shows just how much power one company can have. Amazon isn’t just a store; it runs a huge part of the internet. When it goes down, so much of daily life slows too.

This is a reminder of how modern capitalism works. A few big companies control huge parts of our lives. They bring convenience, but they also create risks. When they fail, even for a short time, it affects millions.

The Amazon outage isn’t just about tech, it’s about how much control big corporations have over our daily lives.

References:
Cuthbertson, A. (2025, October 20). Amazon Web Services outage hits dozens of websites and apps. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/20/amazon-web-services-aws-outage-hits-dozens-websites-apps

AP News. (2025, October 20). Amazon services restored after major outage. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/654a12ac9aff0bf4b9dc0e22499d92d7

Downdetector. (2025). Amazon outage reports. https://downdetector.co.uk/status/amazon/