Eight of the world's biggest are demanding sweeping changes to US surveillance laws in the wake of the NSA spying revelations.
In it they demand new legal limits and increased oversight of government surveillance operations.
Leading figures in the tech industry argue the revelations leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden damaged public faith in the internet.
Brad Smith, general counsel at Microsoft, said: "People won’t use technology they don’t trust. Governments have put this trust at risk, and governments need to help restore it."
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, said there was a need for"real need for greater disclosure and new limits on how governments collect information".
The NSA scandal crossed the Atlantic when it was revealed the British government's listening post, GCHQ, had also snooped on people.
"We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens.
"But this summer's revelations highlighted the urgent need to reform government surveillance practices worldwide.
"The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favour of the state and away from the rights of the individual - rights that are enshrined in our Constitution. This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It's time for change.
"For our part, we are focused on keeping users' data secure, deploying the latest encryption technology to prevent unauthorized surveillance on our networks, and by pushing back on government requests to ensure that they are legal and reasonable in scope.
"We urge the U.S. to take the lead and make reforms that ensure that government surveillance efforts are clearly restricted by law, proportionate to the risks, transparent and subject to independent oversight."
How Internet Is Restricted Around The World
North Korea (01 of07)
Open Image ModalNorth KoreaInternet use is extremely restricted with many of North Korea's 24 million people unable to get online. Some North Koreans can access an internal Intranet that connects to state media. Members of the elite, resident foreigners and visitors in certain hotels are allowed full access to the Internet. (credit:WikiMedia:)
Iran(02 of07)
Open Image ModalMost Western social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are blocked in Iran, as well as political opposition and sexually explicit websites. But proxy server sites and other methods are widely used to get around the official restrictions. Iran has announced plans to create its own domestic Internet with fully monitored content, but international experts question whether such a complete break from the worldwide Net is possible. Earlier this week, Iran accounted it had developed its own YouTube-style video sharing site. (credit:WikiMedia:)
China flag.JPG(03 of07)
Open Image Modalhere are more than 500 million Chinese online but they contend with an extensive Internet filtering and censorship system popularly known as the "Great Fire Wall." Censors police blogs and domestic social media for content deemed pornographic or politically subversive and delete it. Many foreign websites, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and the New York Times are blocked. Searches for controversial topics such as corruption scandals or jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo return error messages. Users evade controls using proxy servers. (credit:WikiMedia:)
Cuban flag(04 of07)
Open Image ModalTight control, slow connections and high costs mean only around 5 percent of Cubans have access to the global Internet, with another 23 percent relying instead on a government intranet with very limited content. Web access is mainly via public facilities where people must first register with identification. (credit:WikiMedia:)
Gulf Arab States(05 of07)
Open Image ModalPolitical sites deemed threats to the state are often blocked. Since the Arab Spring, authorities across the Gulf have stepped up arrests of bloggers and others for posted considered offensive to rulers or advocating political reforms. (credit:Getty Images)
Central Asia(06 of07)
Open Image ModalInternet censorship is prevalent across former Soviet Central Asian republics, but the strongest restrictions have been recorded in Iran's authoritarian neighbors to the north, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Controls are strictest in Turkmenistan, where social networking sites Facebook and Twitter are out-of-bounds, as is video-sharing site YouTube and numerous news websites. Uzbekistan has taken a less extreme approach, but sites critical of the government are blocked as a matter of course. Tajikistan, which is like those countries also ruled by an unchallenged strong-man ruler, has twice this year barred access to Facebook after web-surfers used the site to post material critical of government officials. (credit:Getty Images)
Eritrea(07 of07)
Open Image ModalThe government restricts access to the Internet and closely monitors online communications. The U.S. State Department's latest human rights report said the Eritrean government monitored email without obtaining warrants as required by law, and that all Internet service users were required to use one of the three service providers owned directly by the government or controlled through high-ranking members of the country's sole party. But the vast majority people do not have Internet access. (credit:WikiMedia:)