Facebook has banned Britain First, which had 2 million likes, and its two leaders, Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen, saying the far-right group has 'repeatedly posted content designed to incite animosity and hatred against minority groups'.

The social media giant said in a statement: 'We are an open platform for all ideas and political speech goes to the heart of free expression. But political views can and should be expressed without hate. People can express robust and controversial opinions without needing to denigrate others on the basis of who they are.'

Britain First, which was deregistered as a political party in November 2017, will not be able to set up any other pages in future.

Facebook added: 'We have community standards that clearly state this sort of speech is not acceptable on Facebook and, when we become aware of it, we remove it as quickly as we can. Political parties, like individuals and all other organisations on Facebook, must abide by these standards and where a page or person repeatedly breaks our community standards we remove them."

Facebook did not confirm which specific posts led to the pages being removed, but the Guardian reported that they included one comparing Muslim immigrants to animals, another labelling the group's leaders 'Islamophobic and proud', and videos created to incite hateful comments against Muslims.

Last week, Fransen and Golding, who claim to be Christians, were jailed for a series of hate crimes against Muslims, receiving 36 weeks' and 18 weeks' imprisonment respectively. They were arrested in May 2017 as part of an investigation into the distribution of leaflets and online videos posted during a trial at Canterbury crown court.

The Guardian reported that the group's considerable social media presence, particularly on Facebook, has been a key driver in the group's growth.

In November last year, the group came to international prominence when Donald Trump retweeted a handful of videos posted on Twitter by Fransen, then Britain First's deputy leader.

A report by the anti-racist organisation Hope Not Hate earlier this month suggested that the far-right organisation had the 'second most liked Facebook page in the politics and society category in the UK – after the royal family'.

The report said that the far-right group had nearly twice as many as Facebook likes as Labour, which it said was the mainstream party with the most likes.

Nonetheless, in 2014, when Fransen stood for parliament in a byelection, she lost her deposit, receiving just 56 votes.

Matthew Collins, the head of research at Hope Not Hate, told the Guardian: 'More than any other group, Britain First overstepped the mark, even going as far as to show Isis-style beheadings. The group became the real "Facebook fascists" and there may be reason to believe the group could even fold if Facebook stays strong and follows up on the mirror and back-up sites Britain First has.

'With Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen jailed, there are already significant problems behind the scenes over access to the group's social media, website and bank accounts. It could very well be all the way downhill for them from here.'

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said: 'Britain First is a vile and hate-fuelled group whose sole purpose is to sow division. Their sick intentions to incite hatred within our society via social media are reprehensible, and Facebook's decision to remove their content is welcome.'