Facebook, Instagram and Messenger go down and users logged out - cue a thousand memes on X

Facebook and Instagram went down on Tuesday afternoon (March 5), logging many users out.

According to the reporting site Downdetector a huge spike in users experiencing difficulties on Meta services including Facebook, Instagram and Messenger started around 3.30pm.

At this time, WhatsApp which is also owned by the tech giant does not appear to be affected.

Following the disruption to services some took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to create memes of crowds to represent the panic.

One user wrote: "Me making my annual return to X because instagram and Facebook are down #instagramdown #facebookdown."

Another added: "Did anyone else run to this app to confirm that FB, IG, and Threads are indeed down?"

A third continued: "I love how every time Meta goes down.. everyone remembers they have a Twitter"

The official Meta account on X has no update on the outage.

Its latest post is dated January 21: "Big news! 🎉 We’re rolling out exciting new updates on Facebook and Instagram designed to help keep teens safe online. 🔒 New private messaging defaults for teens. ✅ Enhanced parental supervision features."

More to follow.