The facts
The official status page first logged the outage as maintenance at 07:13 UTC on 29 October. Its 30 October update disclosed the security investigation. [2]
OTW says no AO3 data, including users' works and bookmarks, has been deleted. This is the operator's assurance, not an independent forensic finding. [1][3]
The operator says it currently does not believe the user database was stolen but cannot rule it out. Account information may include usernames, email and IP addresses, and password hashes. [1]
As a precaution, OTW advises users who reused their AO3 password elsewhere to change it on those other services. [1]
Partial recovery could involve read-only access or missing features and further interruptions. The two-to-four-week estimate is a forecast, not a confirmed restoration date. [2]
Still unconfirmed
- The incident's cause, any account-data theft and the full restoration date.
Sources
References support the numbered facts above. Source checks: 30 Oct 2026, 10:28 UTC.
- Update on AO3 Downtime, October 30, 2026
Organization for Transformative Works · Primary source · 30 Oct 2026
Actual operator statement read. Possible account-data theft is distinguished from its no-deletion assurance and its precautionary password advice.
- AO3 Down for Maintenance: incident timeline
Organization for Transformative Works / official status page · Primary source
Actual dated incident entries read: first logged 29 October 07:13 UTC; duration estimate 29 October 17:41 UTC; security update 30 October 01:27 UTC. Same operator as source 1, not independent corroboration.
- A security incident is behind AO3's outage
The Verge / Jess Weatherbed · Reporting · 30 Oct 2026
Actual 09:09 UTC report read. The Verge is separate from OTW; it reports the operator's statements rather than supplying a separate forensic assessment.