An Austrian court has ruled that Facebook must delete hate speech postings worldwide and that Austrian law can be applied to lawsuits against the social media website.

Maria Windhager, a lawyer for an Austrian politician, said Monday's ruling is a rebuff to the social media giant's claims that any court actions against it can be heard only in California or Ireland, where Facebook's world and European headquarters are located.

Windhager represents Greens politician Eva Glawischnig, who went to court over comments about her posted through a fake profile.

The Austria Press Agency says Monday's decision arose from Facebook's appeal of a lower court ruling ordering it to delete the postings. Facebook did not immediately comment on the decision.

Facebook removes accounts in fight against fake news

Facebook says it has deleted tens of thousands of accounts in Britain ahead of the June 8 general election in a drive to battle fake news.

The tech giant also took out newspaper advertisements in Britain's media offering advice on how to spot such stories. The ads suggest that readers should be “sceptical of headlines,” and to “look closely at the URL.”

The company says it has made improvements to help them detect fake news accounts more effectively.

Simon Milner, the tech firm's UK director of policy, says the platform wants to get to the “root of the problem” and is working with outside organisations to fact check and analyse content around the election.

Milner says Facebook is “doing everything we can to tackle the problem of false news.