From mid-September, anyone buying ad space of this nature will have to provide a whole host of verification details, including a phone number, a business email and website, and proof they are registered with the government - such as a tax-registered organisation number or federal election commission identification number.

Political advertisers are currently only required to verify their identity, location and who is paying for them - and those restrictions were only introduced last year following concerns about misleading campaigns ahead of the presidential election and Brexit referendum of 2016.

Facebook said the updated guidelines mean advertisers who do not provide the additional information within a month of the rules taking effect will have their adverts paused.

The social network said: "While the authorisation process won't be perfect, it will help us confirm the legitimacy of an organisation and provide people with more details about who's behind the ads they are seeing."

Smaller organisations and local politicians who do not have government-issued credentials will still be able to buy adverts by submitting a phone number, address, business email and website that Facebook can verify.

Those advertisers who submit their information and have it verified by Facebook will be allowed to use their name in ad disclaimers and will receive a "confirmed organisation" tag on their adverts.

More about: Facebook