The Government has become the latest major advertiser to signal its unease over using social networking sites following a recent exodus of corporate advertisers from Facebook.

The Central Office of Information (COI), which controls a total budget of £330 million and co-ordinates Government advertising, has directed i-level, its buying agency, not to purchase advertising space on internet pages that carry user-generated content.

Jamie Galloway, the COI director of digital media, said: “Advertising has been paused temporarily on any websites that have not provided COI and i-level with the assurances our bookings require."

The decision, designed to prevent Government messages appearing alongside offensive or otherwise unsuitable material, will bar the use of profile pages of users of Facebook and other social networking sites.

Mr Galloway added: “COI is not considering removing all social media activity indefinitely. COI are regularly reviewing the use of social media in government communications campaigns, to ensure they are effectively reaching target audiences.”

The move follows the withdrawal of adverts from Facebook by companies including Vodafone, First Direct, Halifax, Prudential, Virgin Media and the AA after it emerged their ads were appearing alongside content generated by the far-right British Nationalist Party.

The BBC has also withdrawn advertising from Facebook.

Social networks provide a relatively cheap but high-risk online platform for brand owners.

Guy Phillipson, the chief executive of the Internet Advertising Bureau, the UK industry body, said that social networks should consider formulating a new set of rules on what constitutes a "safe page" for brands to advertise on or risk more advertisers ditching the medium.

He suggested that the Internet Advertising Sales House rules, which map out standards for online advertising inventory and include a mechanism for advertiser complaints to be dealt with, should be modified for social networks.

"The worst case scenario here is that major brands shy away from social networks," he said.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company is in the process of setting up a London office, expected to open this summer. Advertising sources say that the American company has so far kept a very low profile in the UK, finding that media coverage and word-of-mouth has been enough to deliver it a ready stream of advertisers.

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