Australia will fine social media firms up to 10% of their annual global turnover and imprison executives for up to 3 years if violent content is not removed ‘expeditiously’ under a new Australian law passed by the parliament on Thursday, April 3.

The new Australian law is in response to a New Zealand Christchurch attack on March 15, which 50 people killed as they attended Friday prayers.

The shooter broadcasted his attack live on Facebook and it was widely shared for over an hour before being removed, a timeframe Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison described as unacceptable.

Australian Brenton Tarrant (Shooter), 28 years old, a suspected white supremacist, has been charged with one murder following the attack and was remanded without a plea. He is due back in court on 5th April, police said he was likely to face more charges.

It is now an offense in Australia for companies, such as Facebook and Alphabet’s Google, which owns YouTube, not to remove videos or photos that show murder, torture or rape without delay.

Spokesperson of google said in an emailed statement, We have zero tolerance for terrorist content on our platforms.

We are committed to leading the way in developing new technologies and standards for identifying and removing terrorist content.

A spokeswoman for Facebook was not immediately able for comment.

It was exploring restrictions on who can access their live video-streaming service, depending on factors such as previous violations of the site’s community standards, Facebook said last week. Geo news reported.