(Photo by Patrick RiviereGetty Images) Australia is blocking online material from view.

New rules governing the broadcast of violent material have been exercised in an Australian first, with the government ordering telcos to block access to eight different sites that are hosting vision of the Christchurch massacre that killed 51 people.

Telcos had already voluntarily placed their own block on the sites five months ago, but with violent footage still being hosted, the new eSafety Commissioner demanded a further six month extension.

The hosts will be reviewed over the six month period, and if the offending material is removed, it will be eligible to be unblocked, according to Communications Minister Paul Fletcher.

The eSafety Commissioner said the threshold for material was very high and blocking of sites was only used as a last resort for sites that would not cooperate with government.

In an Australian first, eight websites have been blocked for hosting video recordings of the Christchurch massacre or the manifesto of its alleged perpetrator.

Telcos in Australia were ordered to block the sites under powers granted to the newly-created eSafety Commissioner, with Communications Minister Paul Fletcher saying Australia could not tolerate the material any longer.

“We cannot allow this type of horrific material to be used to incite further violence or terrorist acts,” Fletcher said in a release announcing the move.

“Website blocking is not a universal solution to online harms, but it is important that this option be available to the eSafety Commissioner in extreme cases such as this.”

READ MORE: New Zealand made it illegal for anyone to download or share the Christchurch shooter’s manifesto

All of the sites had already been voluntarily blocked by telcos five months ago. The new order will see that extended for a further six months with each site to be reviewed during that time.

If manifestos and vision disappear, each site will be eligible to have access to it reinstated.

The government defended the use of the new powers, insisting that they are only used as a last resort. The original list of sites to be blocked numbered 43 but the remainder complied with government requests, a spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider Australia,

“I have consulted with both the ISPs and the website administrators, giving the websites ample opportunity to remove this horrific content, and a number have complied. So those hosting this material do so in the full knowledge that Australia will take action to halt its continued proliferation,” eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said.

“The remaining rogue websites need only to remove the illegal content to have the block against them lifted.”

The Commissioner reiterated that the government had an “extremely high threshold” for online material and that powers would only be used “under extraordinary circumstances”.

“It is some of the worst fringe sites that host such content and I make no apology for ensuring Australians are protected from exposure to it,” Inman Grant said.

While able to simply block some sites, the larger concern for the government assumedly remains social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube where material circulated long after commitments were made to eliminate it.

READ MORE: Facebook is dialling up punishments for users who abuse live video after the Christchurch massacre

The eSafety Commissioner said she is still working with those social media companies to figure out how to deal with future crises.

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