Facebook reported a better-than-expected rise in revenue and user engagement in Q2, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) hailing the role of its services during the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

Zuckerberg argued during an earnings call the company’s offerings were “more important now than ever before” as they provided small businesses “the tools they need to grow and be successful online during these challenging times”.

Revenue rose 11 per cent year-on-year to $18.6 billion, with advertising alone growing 10 per cent to $18.3 billion.

Net income of $5.17 billion was 98 per cent higher.

A 12 per cent rise in monthly active Facebook users took its total to 2.7 billion by 30 June.

More than 3.1 billion people were now using its broader portfolio, while active advertisers surpassed 9 million.

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Zuckerberg shrugged off the impact of a boycott on advertising in July, explaining Facebook’s operations relied more on small businesses than a handful of large companies.

But he expressed concerns about targeted advertising online, claiming it would “reduce opportunities for small businesses so much that it would probably be felt at a macro-economic level”.

He also said it was wrong to “assume that most of the content on our services is about politics, news, misinformation or hate”, emphasising the company did not seek to profit from such things.