The European Commission has today announced a partnership with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft in order to crack down on what it classes as "illegal hate speech" while "criminaliz[ing]" perpetrators and "promoting independent counter-narratives" that the European Union favours.

A press release from the Commission this morning claims the new initiative has been set up "to respond to the challenge of ensuring that online platforms do not offer opportunities for illegal online hate speech to spread virally".

The move has been branded "Orwellian" by Members of the European Parliament, and digital freedom groups have already pulled out of any further discussions with the Commission, calling the new policy "lamentable".

The unelected, executive branch of the European Union (EU) released a "Code of Conduct" today that "includes a series of commitments to combat the spread of illegal hate speech online in Europe" developed "together with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft ('the ITcompanies')" who have "signed up".

The commitments include "educat[ing] and rais[ing] awareness with their users" and building a "network" of "trusted reporters" to flag unwanted content. Facebook and Twitter are to provide "regular training to their staff on current societal developments" and work more closely with national governments and "their law enforcement agencies" to remove content the EU does not favor.

Most alarmingly, however, the platforms have also promised to engage in the active promotion of views and organisations the EU does favour, and the re-education of supposedly hateful users.

Facebook and others must, "recogniz[e] the value of independent counter speech against hateful rhetoric and prejudice, aim to continue their work in identifying and promoting independent counter-narratives, new ideas and initiatives and supporting educational programs that encourage critical thinking."

Janice Atkinson MEP told Breitbart London: "It's Orwellian. Anyone who has read 1984 sees it's very re-enactment live. 

"The Commission has been itching to shut down free speech in the Parliament and now they're attacking social media. We have already seen Facebook 'policing' so-called right-wing postings.

"If an MEP, such as the centre-right Hungarians, the Danish People's Party, the Finns, the Swedish Democrats, the Austrian FPO, say no to migration quotas because they cannot cope with the cultural and religious requirements of Muslims across the Middle East who are seeking refugee status, is that a hate crime? And what is their punishment? It's a frightening path to totalitarianism."