The European Commission, together with social media companies, share a collective responsibility and pride in promoting and facilitating freedom of expression throughout the online world. However, the Commission and the IT Companies recognise that the spread of illegal hate speech online not only negatively affects the groups or individuals that it targets, it also negatively impacts those who speak out for freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination in our open societies and has a chilling effect on the democratic discourse on online platforms. By signing the code of conduct, the IT companies commit to continuing their efforts to tackle illegal hate speech online (bit.ly/25vWgXU), .