Australia's major telecommunications companies have been ordered to block eight websites that are hosting videos of the Christchurch terrorist attacks or the alleged gunman's manifesto in the first move from the eSafety Commissioner to use new rules.

While the sites have already been blocked voluntarily by the telcos for five months, the violent material hasn't been removed leading the eSafety Commissioner to formally order an additional six months' block.

The massacre was livestreamed on Facebook and the video was uploaded millions of times across the internet. At the time, there were no guidelines informing the providers what sites to block and when to remove restrictions and this left the telcos in a difficult legal position.

Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said: "The initial list was 45 websites. It's down to eight." Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The Australian government set up an emergency taskforce with the social media giants and telcos after the event to find ways to stop the sharing of violent and abhorrent content. A response plan and rules for site blocking were on the list of issues to be dealt with, and new powers for the commissioner to order sites to be blocked were introduced in August.