The EU has complained it will be blocked from running glowing adverts praising its work by new Facebook rules.

Senior EU figures have written to the social media company saying its clampdown on foreign political interference means it will only be able to promote itself via Facebook and Instagram in Belgium.

Bodies such as the EU Commission regularly run taxpayer-funded ads on their Facebook pages extolling how the EU allows people to watch streaming services anywhere in the bloc and how it helps citizens set up health food businesses.

Yesterday Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit Co-ordinator, warned that the ban could “kill pan-European democracy”.

He added: "The three EU institutions call on Facebook to change their rules to recognise the EU as one political space.”