Tech giants have pledged to work with governments and each other to combat the threat of violent extremism on the internet.

At a meeting in France, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Microsoft and Amazon signed an agreement dubbed the ‘Christchurch Call to Action’.

It commits the companies to work with governments and NGOs to establish “crisis protocols” for responding to active events.

They also agreed to fund research into online hate and offline violence, and technology to catch extremist content.

“Terrorism and violent extremism are complex societal problems that require an all-of-society response,” the tech companies said in a joint statement.

“The commitments we are making today will further strengthen the partnership that Governments, society and the technology industry must have to address this threat.”

The call to action was formally unveiled at a meeting in Paris attended by French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

“Technology is moving quite quickly. We may not have all of the responses we need now, but we need to work on them and we need to work together,” Ms Ardern said.

“That's why this call to action is not just about regulation, but instead about bringing companies to the table [and saying] you have a role too and we have expectations of you.”

Separately, Facebook is changing its livestreaming rules so those that break the company’s “most serious policies” will be immediately banned from using Facebook Live for a period of time.

Facebook says the alleged Christchurch shooter would not have been able to livestream the massacre in March if the new rules had been in place.

The company has refused to say what rules the terrorist had previously broken.