To prevent and counter the spread of illegal hate speech online, in May 2016, the Commission agreed with Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube  a “Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online” to help users notifying illegal hate speech in this social platforms, improve the support to civil society as well as the coordination with national authorities.

The four platforms agreed to assess the majority of users’ notifications of in 24h also respecting EU and national legislation on hate speech and committed to remove, if necessary, those messages assessed illegal. The four Companies also agreed to further work on improving the feedback to users and being more transparent towards the general society.

In the course of 2018, Instagram, Google+, Snapchat and Dailymotion announced the intention to join the Code of conduct. Please find below the text of the Code of Conduct in 23 official languages of the European Union:

• On 27^th June 2018, Dailymotion announces the company’s participation to the Code of conduct. It is the first Europe based IT Company joining this work.

• Following the announcement by Instagram and Google+ on 19 January 2018, on 7^th May 2018 also Snapchat announced the intention to participate to the Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online. See press point at this link.

• On 1 March 2018, the Commission adopted a Recommendation on measures to effectively tackle illegal content online. The Recommendation contains a set of operational measures – accompanied by the necessary safeguards – to be taken by companies and Member States and applies to all forms of illegal content, including racist and xenophobic incitement to hatred and violence.

• 19 January 2018: the Commission disclosed the result of the 3rd monitoring exercise on the implementation of the Code of conduct. These results are positive and reveal continuous progress by the IT Companies on swift removal of illegal hate speech.

• 1 June 2017: Commissioner Jourová presented the results of a second evaluation of the Code of Conduct. Results showed that, one year after its adoption, significant progress was made by IT Companies on the commitments of the Code, while some challenges remain.

           To view the full result, please consult the Factsheet on the 2^nd evaluation.

• 6-7 April 2017: Presidency conference in Malta on how to support civil society in delivering effective positive narratives against hate speech online. The conference gathered Member States authorities, civil society organisations and digital actors (including IT Companies and social media strategists) to discuss and share good practices on how to promote effective positive narratives against hate speech online. This is the summary of the conference.

• 7 December 2016: the Commission presented the results of a first monitoring exercise to evaluate the implementation of the Code of Conduct. The exercise involved 12 civil society organisations specialised on monitoring online hate speech, from 9 countries, during a period of 6 weeks (over fall 2016). A factsheet summarises the main findings.

• 5 October 2016: To ensure an effective measuring of progress on the commitments of the Code of Conduct, the Commission’s sub-group on countering hate speech online agreed on a common methodology to assess the reactions of IT Companies upon notification of illegal hate speech.