Facebook's algorithms removed parts of the US Declaration of Independence from the social media site after determining they represented hate speech.

The issue came to light when a local paper in Texas began posting excerpts of the historic text on its Facebook page each day in the run up to the country's Independence Day celebrations on July 4.

However when The Liberty County Vindicator attempted to post its tenth extract, which refers to "merciless Indian savages", on its Facebook page the paper received a notice saying the post went against its standards on hate speech.

Facebook later apologised and allowed the posting.

Casey Stinnett, the paper's editor, described the incident on the Vindicator's website: "Somewhere in paragraphs 27-31 of the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson wrote something that Facebook finds offensive.

"Leading up to Independence Day, The Vindicator challenged its Facebook followers to read the Declaration of Independence. To make it a little easier to digest that short but formidable historic document, the newspaper broke the Declaration down into 12 small bites and one to post each morning from June 24 to July 4.

"The first nine parts posted as scheduled, but part 10, consisting of paragraphs 27-31 of the Declaration, did not appear. Instead, The Vindicator received a notice from Facebook saying that the post 'goes against our standards on hate speech'."