Internet disruptions in Iran reduced Meta users by 20 million
Meta has announced that the number of daily users across its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, decreased by about 20 million in the first quarter of 2026.
Susan Li, Meta’s Chief Financial Officer, stated in the company’s quarterly earnings call that the reason for this decline was internet disruptions in Iran and also restricted access to WhatsApp in Russia. Meta has not specified which of the apps was most affected by this decrease.
Despite this decline, the company announced that in March, about 3 billion and 560 million people still used at least one of its platforms daily.
According to the published financial report, Meta’s revenue in the first quarter of the current year reached 56 billion and 300 million dollars, which is a 33 percent increase compared to the same period last year. The company’s net profit was also announced as 26 billion and 800 million dollars.
Meanwhile, Meta’s shares fell by about 9 percent after the release of this report, a decrease that analysts say was mainly due to investors’ concerns about rising costs related to the development of artificial intelligence and its infrastructure.