What happened to Facebook? Why did FB and Instagram outage occur - and are they still down?

Has Facebook gone down and if so why?

Facebook, WhatsApp and messenger all went down today shortly after 3.30pm as users around the world found themselves unable to access the giant social media and messaging services across desktop and mobile devices.

Users around the globe reported the issue and sites including Downdetector - which tracks the stability of internet pages - showed a huge spike in reports. WhatsApp, also owned by parent company Meta, appears unaffected.

Many users have reported being presented with fresh login and password requests when they visit the sites.

The Daily Mail is reporting that sources inside parent company Meta have pointed to an issue with the company's internal computer systems which are also offline.

Outrages reported in Facebook access spiked around 3.30pm | DownDetector

Who owns Instagram and WhatsApp?

Booming social media platforms Instagram and WhatsApp are owned by Facebook, the giant Big Tech company headed up by Mark Zuckerberg.

The instant image-based social media site, Instagram, was snapped up by Facebook in a $1 billion acquisition in 2012.

Facebook went on to purchase WhatsApp in February 2014 for a whopping $19 billion before swallowing up VR hardware company, Oculus VR, in the same year.