Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, Google, and Amazon sign on to the Christchurch Call to Action, commit to a 9-point plan to stop spread of terrorist content online
resolute in our commitment—to ensure we're doing all we can to fight the hatred & extremism that lead to terrorist violence. Aditya Raj Kaul / @adityarajkaul : #BREAKING: India supports France and New Zealand backed initiative to eliminate terror & violent extremist content online. Declaration called ‘The Christchurch Call to Action’ comes at a global meet in Paris supported by Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Microsoft among others. pic.twitter.com/Sosj8BBaw1 Adam Parkhomenko / @adamparkhomenko : Between this & the refusal to sign on to the Christchurch statement, this president has made clear he stands with violent rightwing extremists who use the Internet to traffic in hate. And he's doing it under the guise of free speech like we didn't see his call to investigate SNL. Theresa May / @theresa_may : I've signed up to today's Christchurch Call to Action. This commits governments and tech companies to working together to tackle terrorist and violent extremist material online. #ChristchurchCall pic.twitter.com/XYbujQFhWJ Mike Masnick / @mmasnick : So, let me get this straight. On the same day the WH declines to join the Christchurch Call out of “concerns for free speech” on regulating social media, it DOES open up a form to let people whine about social media content moderation? Chris Van Hollen / @chrisvanhollen : We must be doing more to work with our allies and social media companies to counter the spread of extremism and hate online. This can be done while still respecting our freedom of speech, I urge the Trump Administration to reconsider this decision. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Kirstine Stewart / @kirstinestewart : Great to see these discussions up close today. Moving to real, timely solutions will be crucial, lots of goodwill around the table to work together. https://twitter.com/... Brad Smith / @bradsmi : Microsoft is proud to sign the Christchurch Call and commit to nine concrete steps to fight violent extremist content online. https://blogs.microsoft.com/ ... Molly Jong-Fast / @mollyjongfast : Because good nazis on both sides, amiright? https://twitter.com/... Justin Trudeau / @justintrudeau : Just landed in Paris, with a busy few days ahead. First, the Christchurch Call to Action meeting, where world leaders & social media companies will meet to take action against violence & hate online. Then, I'll speak at @VivaTech about restoring trust in the digital world. @splcenter : By not standing alongside other world leaders to fight hate, President Trump has shown once again that he doesn't understand the importance of white supremacy in fueling terrorism. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... James O'Brien / @mrjamesob : Translation: We can't do this because the actual President would be in permanent breach of any international pact to stop extremism on social media. Obvs. https://twitter.com/... Carl Franzen / @carlfranzen : Who decides what is “terrorist and violent extremist content?” So Twitter will try to remove livestreams of lone shooters or homicidal gunmen as fast as possible...What about graphic livestreams and videos of government soldiers firing on citizen protestors (e.g. Sudan)? https://twitter.com/... Kent Walker / @kent_walker : Tech industry is working together with government and civil society to address the continued threat of violent extremism. @Google & @YouTube are pleased to sign the Christchurch Call to Action, outlining our commitment and strengthening those partnerships. http://ChristchurchCall.com Chris Lu / @chrislu44 : In choosing not to stand against extremist speech, WH says with a straight face: “We maintain that the best tool to defeat terrorist speech is productive speech” They've clearly never read their boss' tweets. #VeryFinePeople https://twitter.com/... Eddie S. Glaude Jr / @esglaude : This speaks volumes about who these people are! | White House will not sign on to Christchurch call to stamp out online extremism amid free speech concerns https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... @homelanddems : It's laughable that a WH that often characterizes the free press as the “enemy of the people” is suddenly concerned with free speech. Let's call this what it is: @realDonaldTrump once again actively choosing to NOT show leadership in combatting extremism. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... @attackerman : When the terrorists are white: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Context & Ripple Effects
The signing comes one day after the White House declined to join the Christchurch Call, citing free-speech concerns — so the Paris summit lands with governments like France, New Zealand, India, and the UK committed while the US government sits out. The five platforms are filling that gap themselves, committing to a nine-point plan that covers both their own uploads and live-streaming, the vector used in the Christchurch attack.
That split matters because the Call is voluntary: without the US government at the table, enforcement pressure runs through company policy rather than law, which is exactly the terrain where the platforms' later record proved uneven.
First-order effects
- Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Twitter now owe public progress against a nine-point commitment — including removing terrorist content and stopping its re-upload — creating an external benchmark activists and governments can hold them to.
- India's endorsement gives the France–New Zealand initiative broader diplomatic weight, isolating the US government's abstention rather than the platforms' participation.
Second-order effects
- The gap between foreign-threat enforcement (ISIS) and domestic threats becomes measurable against this pledge — coverage of how these same companies let work on QAnon-style domestic extremism lag behind foreign threats shows the nine points were applied asymmetrically.
- A voluntary framework signed by platforms but not the US government shifts moderation disputes into company-controlled bodies like the Oversight Board, whose later rulings drew criticism for failing to set clear limits on powerful officials.
Third-order effects
- The pattern holds through to 2021, when the US formally endorsed the Christchurch Call after initially rejecting it — suggesting voluntary multilateral tech-governance frameworks can outlast the administrations that decline them and become the default reference point for extremist-content policy.
- If platform self-commitment remains the enforcement mechanism, accountability concentrates in company-created review structures rather than regulators, entrenching private governance of speech at global scale.
The trend: Extremist-content governance is consolidating around voluntary multilateral frameworks that platforms sign first and governments join later, leaving enforcement in company hands.