US endorses Christchurch Call, an effort to stop the spread of extremist content online, which Big Tech signed on to in 2019 and Trump's White House rejected
When the Christchurch Call launched in 2019, the sign-up split along a clean line: Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, Google, and Amazon committed to a nine-point plan against terrorist content while the TrumpWhite House refused, citing free speech concerns (the White House rejection). That left the world's largest platform market governed by company pledges alone.
The US endorsement closes that gap two years later, arriving after the accord's scope had already widened — New Zealand secured US, Microsoft, and Twitter backing for a research arm in 2022 (Ardern's research initiative) and AI labs including OpenAI and Anthropic joined in 2023 (AI companies signing up). The government that once abstained is now inside a framework its own firms helped write.
First-order effects
The US government moves from abstainer to participant in the Call, meaning American officials now sit alongside Big Tech in the same commitment structure they declined to join under Trump.
Second-order effects
US endorsement adds diplomatic weight that makes the Call harder for remaining holdout governments to ignore and gives platforms' moderation commitments official-state cover when contested domestically.
Third-order effects
With AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic among later signatories, the pattern points toward crisis-born governance accords extending from social media feeds to generative-AI content pipelines — one shared framework covering both what platforms host and what models produce.
The trend: Crisis-born internet governance accords are absorbing first their home-market governments, then adjacent industries — with the Christchurch Call evolving from a social-media pledge into a multi-sector content-governance framework.
We welcome the U.S. to the Christchurch Call to Action, and look forward to continuing our collaboration with governments, industry and the GIFCT on clear actions to eliminate hatred and terrorism online. https://www.whitehouse.gov/...
So glad to see this corrected - kudos to the US Counterterrorism team for fixing this: United States Joins Christchurch Call to Action to Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online - United States Department of State https://www.state.gov/...
@nick_clegg Your company live-streamed the murder of 51 Muslims that led to this, you obsequious piece of garbage. The only collaboration that governments should be doing with you is contacting you to let you know you're being regulated.
@DFRLab coordinated workshops on implementing the Christchurch Call with partner countries and private industry in New Zealand in December 2019. One of the primary limits to implementation America's formal absence. Going forward that won't be the case. https://twitter.com/...
U.S. joins #ChristchurchCall, an important collaborative effort across govt, civil society, media and tech sectors, to address terrorism and violent extremism, spearheaded by New Zealand PM @jacindaardern https://www.whitehouse.gov/...
‼ U.S. joining Christchurch Call to eliminate online extremism, that's big! Trump admin had declined to, bucking global partners https://twitter.com/...
good. nice to have a US government that will actually show up with industry and allies to think about how we might avoid terrorists live-streaming massacres over the internet. https://twitter.com/...
We welcome the U.S. to the Christchurch Call to Action to Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online. We'll continue to do our part to build on the progress made globally across industry, government, and civil society. https://www.state.gov/...
Area Social Media Company That Allowed Live-Streamed Murder of 51 Muslims and the Planning for a White Supremacist Insurrection is Super Into Eliminating Hatred and Terrorism Online. https://twitter.com/...
The United States is proud to join the Christchurch Call to Action, a global pledge by member governments and technology partners to work together to address terrorist and violent extremist content online. Read more: https://www.whitehouse.gov/...
Pence could've made a difference by signing on to the #ChristchurchCall to Action-I pushed for it unwaveringly-but the far right's grasp of the Trump Admin was too deep. Today-the US signed on-signaling to the world that we stand against online extremism. Thank you Pres. #Biden. …
2. The Biden action is a significant turn away from Trump-era policy. In March 2019, a #WhiteSupremacist terrorist live streamed his massacre of people at two mosques in New Zealand. These dozens of democracies 👇 joined the call to action. The Trump administration refused. https:…
White supremacists in the US have long exploited online forums to incite & plan violence across the globe. Far more needs to be done to address our country's role in this crisis - but it's heartening to see this admin join allies in seeking solutions. https://www.state.gov/...
Despite mass shootings in the United States motivated by the New Zealand mosque massacres, the Trump administration declined dozens of other nations and American tech companies to join the Call to Action in 2019, citing concerns over free speech. https://techpolicy.press/...
Great to see the #US join the #ChristchurchCall. Working together, governments, industry and civil society are making progress towards eliminating terrorist and violent extremist content online. @GIFCT_official https://www.state.gov/...