Billionaire investor George Soros has hit out at the “monopolistic” activities of Facebook and Google in a speech at the World Economic Forum, telling the web giants their “days are numbered”.

Soros told assembled political and business leaders in his speech at the summit in Davos, Switzerland, that social media platforms “claim they are merely distributing information”.

“But the fact that they are near monopoly distributors makes them public utilities and should subject them to more stringent regulations, aimed at preserving competition, innovation, and fair and open universal access.”