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Governments around the world made 34,946 requests for data about its users in the first six months of 2014 - an increase of 24 per cent on last year.

The UK government asked Facebook to provide information more than 2,619 accounts between January and June - a 15 per cent rise on the second half of last year.

Facebook said it provided information in more than 70 per cent of requests, but restricted access to content in nine cases in response to court injunctions. 

The figures were released in the same week that experts claimed that global internet companies have become 'the command and control networks of choice' for terrorists.

Facebook announced that governments around the world made 34,946 requests for data in the first six months of 2014 - an increase of 24 per cent. The social network (an employee is pictured outside its office) said it provided information in more than 70 per cent of requests

Chris Sonderby, Facebook's deputy general counsel, said that the amount of content restricted because of local laws increased by about 19 per cent during the period. 

In a blog post, Mr Sonderby wrote: 'We scrutinise every government request we receive for legal sufficiency under our terms and the strict letter of the law, and push back hard when we find deficiencies or are served with overly broad requests. 

The UK government asked Facebook to provide information on more than 2,500 users in the first six months of 2014. David Cameron is pictured

'We continue to work with our industry and civil society partners to push governments for additional transparency and to reform surveillance practices necessary to rebuild people's trust in the internet.

'While we recognise that governments need to take action to protect their citizens' safety and security, we believe all government data requests must be narrowly tailored, proportionate to the case in review, and subject to strict judicial oversight.'

The figures have been released in the same week that the new head of Britain's electronic spying agency, has claimed that global internet companies have become 'the command and control networks of choice' for terrorists. 

GCHQ director Robert Hannigan insisted some were 'in denial' about the way fanatics misuse their services.

He cited how IS has exploited social media for recruitment and propaganda – using the likes of Twitter, WhatsApp and YouTube to promote beheadings. The terror group and its followers have also sent up to 40,000 tweets a day.

Mr Hannigan called on the likes of Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft to give greater co-operation to GCHQ and sister agencies MI5 and MI6.

According to Facebook's figures published online, some 2,110 requests for data from 2,619 Facebook accounts were made by UK Government agencies between January and June.

This compared to 1,906 requests for information on 2,277 Facebook users from July 2013 to December 2013.

Between January 2013 and June 2013 - when Facebook first began publishing records of Government requests - 1,975 requests for data on 2,337 users were made in the UK.

Facebook said it responds to valid requests relating to criminal cases and each request is 'checked for legal sufficiency'.

'We reject or require greater specificity on requests that are overly broad or vague,' the company said.

TWITTER AND FACEBOOK ARE HELPING TERRORISTS, SAYS GCHQ CHIEF 

GCHQ director Robert Hannigan (pictured) said internet firms such as Facebook needed to allow the state to police online traffic

Global internet companies have become 'the command and control networks of choice' for terrorists, claims the new head of Britain's electronic spying agency.

GCHQ director Robert Hannigan insisted some were 'in denial' about the way fanatics misuse their services.

He cited how Islamic State (IS) has exploited social media for recruitment and propaganda – using the likes of Twitter, WhatsApp and YouTube to promote beheadings. The terror group and its followers have also sent up to 40,000 tweets a day.

Mr Hannigan called on the likes of Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft to give greater co-operation to GCHQ and sister agencies MI5 and MI6.

He also said there was 'no doubt' young foreign fighters had benefited from the treasure trove of intelligence secrets leaked by fugitive CIA worker Edward Snowden.

'GCHQ and its sister agencies… cannot tackle these challenges without greater support from the private sector, including the largest US technology companies which dominate the web,' he said.

'I understand why they have an uneasy relationship with governments. They aspire to be neutral conduits of data and to sit outside or above politics.

'But increasingly their services not only host the material of violent extremism or child exploitation, but are the routes for the facilitation of crime and terrorism.

'However much they may dislike it, they have become the command and control networks of choice for terrorists and criminals, who find their services as transformational as the rest of us.' 

An aerial view of Government Communications Headquarters in Benhall, in the suburbs of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire: The agency's new chief says internet firms need to open up even more to state spies

Writing in the Financial Times, Mr Hannigan said mobile technology and smartphones have increased the options available to terrorists 'exponentially'. 

'There is no doubt that young foreign fighters have learnt and benefited from the leaks of the past two years. The challenge to governments and their intelligence agencies is huge and it can only be met with greater co-operation from technology companies. Terrorists have long made use of the internet. But IS's approach is different in two important areas.

'Where Al Qaeda and its affiliates saw the internet as a place to disseminate material anonymously, IS has embraced the web as a noisy channel in which to promote itself, intimidate people, and radicalise new recruits.'