In its results for the three months to 30th June, Facebook made a total $18.7bn, of which $18.3bn was from advertising.

Income from advertising was up 10% compared to the same quarter in 2019, when advertising income was at $16.6bn.

Once operating costs and expenses were subtracted, the company made a profit of $5.2bn.

The results come following a boycott of Facebook over its alleged failure to control hate speech and misinformation on its platforms, with more than 1,000 companies taking part, including some major global brands.

But the company said that its July ad revenue growth was at 10%, in line with the second quarter results, and it expected this to continue over the rest of the third quarter of 2020.

Facebook also reported a 12% year-on-year increase in daily active users on its flagship Facebook social media platform to 1.79 billion. There was a 12% increase in monthly active users to 2.7 billion on Facebook.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive of Facebook, said: "We're glad to be able to provide small businesses the tools they need to grow and be successful online during these challenging times.

"And we're proud that people can rely on our services to stay connected when they can't always be together in person."