Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Microsoft sign EU hate speech code

To tackle racism and xenophobia, big internet companies say they will try to review most notifications within 24 hours

An online "code of conduct" aimed at fighting hate speech has been launched by the European Union in conjunction with four of the world's biggest internet companies.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft have all been involved in the creation of the code, which is particularly aimed at fighting racism and xenophobia across Europe. Such efforts are hampered by varying enforcement in different countries, something the code is tackling.