Users in Pakistan and several other countries faced difficulties as Instagram experienced a widespread outage, affecting messaging, feed loading and access to the app on Wednesday.

According to reports, most users were unable to send or receive messages, while others complained about problems loading their feed and accessing the application.

Data from Downdetector showed that disruptions to Instagram in Pakistan began around 7.10am.

More than 13,000 complaints were recorded on Downdetector, with 71 per cent related to app failures and 20 per cent linked to server connection issues.

Thousands of users in the United States were also affected, while users in other regions reported similar issues.

Reports indicate that the outage severely affected direct messaging on the platform.

However, Meta Platforms has not issued any statement regarding the cause of the disruption or when services will be fully restored.

Users in regions including parts of Europe, Canada and possibly some areas of the Middle East also reported problems.

With no response from Meta so far, users have been sharing their reactions on other social media platforms, while experts say the disruption could be linked to server overload or a possible cyberattack.