FACEBOOK has received thousands of pounds of public money from the elections watchdog, despite controversy over the technology giant’s UK tax bill.

The Electoral Commission paid the social media firm for campaigns designed to get young people to vote.

Yesterday The Herald revealed that the taxman had also paid Facebook – to warn others to pay their bills.

Facebook paid just over £4,000 in corporation tax in the UK in 2014.

The company insists that it pays all the tax for which it is liable.

But there is growing pressure on international tech firms including Facebook and Google over the amounts they pay in the UK.

There was an outcry last week when it emerged that Google had reached a settlement with HMRC for tax dating back a decade.

In total, the Electoral Commission paid Facebook around £38,000.

The Commission spent £8,000 on a campaign to encourage 16 and 17-year-olds to register to vote ahead of the Scottish independence referendum.

Another campaign to encourage young people to register before last year's General Election cost approximately £30,000, the Commission said.

A spokesman said that the three main activities it had undertaken in partnership with Facebook had all been free.

These included around the independence vote, when every Scottish Facebook user’s newsfeed highlighted a voter information guide.

In the run-up to the General Election a post was placed on 15 million people’s newsfeed during National Voter Registration Day last year, and an ‘I’m a voter button’ was created for polling day itself.

A spokesman for the Electoral Commission said: "Prior to the independence referendum, our free Facebook partnership resulted in them reminding every Scottish Facebook user to look out for our voter information booklet.

"Last year, 15 million Facebook users got a reminder to register to vote ahead of the General Election for free too."

He added: "It’s vital that our campaigns to encourage electoral registration are visible on the platforms that young people and students use.

"Our paid for advertising with Facebook to encourage them to register ahead of both these major events was less than £40,000.”

The Commission added that it was "likely" to use Facebook advertising in the run-up to the European Union referendum.

Two years ago Facebook executive Elizabeth Linder, the company's politics and government specialist for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, predicted that the site could swing the outcome of UK elections, but should not be forced to pay more tax.

Facebook declined to comment last night.