Plus: Ex-Harvard president apologizes, backs away from public after Epstein emails; Nike CEO provides inside look into company’s new direction with podcast interview.
Early Tuesday, a major Cloudflare outage briefly knocked some of the internet’s biggest platforms offline, including X, ChatGPT, Canva and Downdetector.
This happened after a configuration change triggered a software failure inside Cloudflare’s network, The Verge reports.
For users, the result was sudden error messages and widespread site timeouts across apps that rely on Cloudflare’s infrastructure.
Cloudflare said the disruption was not the result of an attack. By mid-morning, engineers had deployed a fix and traffic began returning to normal.
Throughout the outage, beginning shortly after 7 a.m., Cloudflare shared updates on their website about every 20 minutes until the issue was resolved.
They said: “Cloudflare is aware of and investigating an issue which impacts multiple customers: Widespread 500 errors, Cloudflare Dashboard and API also failing.
“We are working to understand the full impact and mitigate this problem. More updates to follow shortly.”
They then updated: “Responses on customer inquiries are not affected, and customers can still reach us via live chat (Business and Enterprise) through the Cloudflare Dashboard, or via the emergency telephone line (Enterprise).”
“We are working alongside our 3rd party provider to understand the full impact and mitigate this problem.”
Until nearly 10 a.m., the updates kept coming, even if it was just a “we’re still working on it” response.
Then, in a post on X, Cloudflare CTO Dane Knecht addressed the failure directly:
I won’t mince words: earlier today we failed our customers and the broader Internet when a problem in @Cloudflare network impacted large amounts of traffic that rely on us. The sites, businesses, and organizations that rely on Cloudflare depend on us being available and I…
— Dane Knecht
(@dok2001) November 18, 2025
“I won’t mince words: earlier today we failed our customers and the broader internet when a problem in the Cloudflare network impacted large amounts of traffic that rely on us.
“Transparency about what happened matters, and we plan to share a breakdown with more details in a few hours…Work is already underway to make sure it does not happen again, but I know it caused real pain today. The trust our customers place in us is what we value the most and we are going to do what it takes to earn that back.”
Why it matters: Outages of this scale create a communications challenge that extends beyond the company at the center of the incident. Cloudflare’s breakdown instantly became everyone’s problem, including the many brands whose users assumed the outage was on their end. It also comes a year after an outage crippled airline operations and caused mass delays.
But the company kept customers in the know with regular updates. These messages provided clarity on what was happening, even if there was no new information. It sent the message that “we’re working on it; this is a priority” and “we’ll keep you informed every step of the way.”
They also offered customers resources and links to reach out to customer support, reinforcing their dedication to finding a solution.
Knecht’s message is also a useful model for comms pros navigating high-pressure moments. He was fast to address the issue, candid and wrote in his own voice. The admission of failure, rather than a defensive or overly technical explanation, helps maintain trust when customers are frustrated and confused.
Cloudflare’s transparency and visible leadership helped set that tone, which is a reminder that when systems fail, clear communication is just as critical as the technical fix.
Editor’s Top Reads:
- Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury Secretary and ex-Harvard president, announced he has stepped down from his role on OpenAI’s board after newly released emails showed he maintained a friendly relationship with Jeffrey Epstein after his conviction. “I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein,” Summers said in a statement to CNBC. Summers said he would step back from “all public commitments,” and later clarified that his role on OpenAI’s board is part of that. He will stay on as a professor of economics at Harvard. Summers’ statement shows ownership, acknowledges shame and expresses regret. It’s to-the-point and clear. That’s critical for mitigating reputational damage, particularly with sensitive issues. If the tone were defensive or dismissive, the fallout would likely be worse. By stepping back, Summers is attempting to contain the damage. He’s showing that the issue is serious, that he’s treating it as such and that is limiting future exposure for now. Whether it will be enough to professionally survive such a serious breach of judgment is unclear.
- Nike CEO Elliott Hill recently joined The Journal, a WSJ podcast to talk about how Nike is returning to its athletic roots, focus less on fashion-street hype and more on “we exist to serve the athletes.” Hill tells WSJ: “I think that consumers today want companies to be more vulnerable, authentic, real and upfront.” He speaks about sharpening the company’s product development, reinvesting in innovation and emphasizing sports over style as the brand’s core. In the 17-minute podcast, Hill explained how Nike is trying to repair retailer relationships and bring newness back into their products. Podcasts provide a conversational, unfiltered platform where leaders can set the tone, share their vision in their own voice and deliver nuance that traditional press releases or sound-bites often lack. Hill was able to speak candidly, show his passion for the company and share his vision for the future, providing more context around his decision-making than he would in another medium. He offered an inside look into his work process, his mindset and strategy, providing the audience with a more layered explanation, rather than just a quick statement. The podcast offered him a chance to be genuine and dive deep, which is a savvy comms approach to showing why this shift is necessary.
- In response to mounting lawsuits and safety concerns, particularly around adults interacting with minors, Roblox announced it will require age checks for anyone who wants to use its chat features. CNN reports that instead of just typing in a birthdate, users will go through facial age-estimation software or must submit a government-issued ID to its third-party vendor, Persona. Based on the age estimate, players are grouped into age ranges (like under 9, 9-12, 13-15, etc.), and chat is restricted so that users are only engaging with people in their same age block. “Our priority is safety and civility,” said Roblox Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman. “We want to make Roblox a safe, positive, age-appropriate experience for everybody. We set extremely high standards for ourselves, and we understand that the public expects the same from us.” Roblox says this is rolling out soon. It’s voluntary now, but it will become mandatory globally by January. The measure comes at a time when Roblox is already under scrutiny, however, this is still a reputational play for them. They’re trying to show they take child safety seriously by acting ahead of legal decisions. Roblox is using transparency by explaining how age checks work and proactive communication to rebuild trust with parents and the broader public. If handled well, it could be a way to shift the narrative and restore credibility.
Courtney Blackann is a communications reporter. Connect with her on LinkedIn or email her at courtneyb@ragan.com.
The post The Scoop: Cloudflare shows speed and ownership in outage response appeared first on PR Daily.
