Instagram says it is working on an issue that has left a seemingly large number of users locked out of their accounts.

Some users reported seeing a message that they were locked out but were still able to scroll through their feeds.

Others posting on Twitter said they were completely shut out.

Some reported that their number of followers dropped, presumably because those accounts were locked.

The number of people complaining of being locked out of their accounts began to spike about 11.30pm on Monday AEDT.

Tweet from @jebaiting

It was unclear whether the problem was an internal issue or whether the social media site had been hacked.

“We are aware that some Instagram users in different parts of the world are having issues accessing their Instagram accounts,” a Meta spokesperson said.

“We’re working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and apologise for the inconvenience.”

Users flooded social media platforms about the issue and Instagram acknowledged the problem on Twitter at 1.14am AEDT.