Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince rejects outage reports, hints at legal action

Cloudflare cofounder and CEO Matthew Prince rejected reports that the company suffered a service outage on Monday morning, disputing coverage that cited user complaints and data from Downdetector.

The internet infrastructure provider — which offers cybersecurity protection and traffic management services globally — was reported to be facing technical issues early Monday, with users flagging access problems across websites and apps, including X.

The report said Cloudflare had acknowledged issues affecting some customers, noting in a website update that it identified a problem around 7 am Eastern and was rolling out a fix. It added that most user complaints had subsided.


Responding on X, Prince said the outage claim was “wrong” and that Cloudflare had not experienced a service disruption.


When an X user suggested Cloudflare should acquire Downdetector, Prince shot back that the company might instead consider legal action, writing that he was “tired” of what he described as misinformation. “Or just sue them. Tired of their crap,” he posted.


Meanwhile, financial commentary account Markets & Mayhem suggested the perception of an outage may have stemmed from broader service instability, while others argued that describing the incident as an “outage” overstated what appeared to be a limited, short-lived issue.