Apologies to any legitimate internet users inconvenienced. Once the material is removed we reopen access. Where they find it, they apply temporary blocks and notify the site, requesting they remove the material. My cyber security team at Spark has done its best overnight to stay on top of the sites distributing the horrific material from the terrorists. Simon Moutter, Managing Director of Spark NZ, confirmed that his company took the same stance, in an effort to protect children and vulnerable people from the explicit images from the incident. "Where material is identified the site is temporarily blocked and the site is notified, requesting they remove the material," Meera Kaushik, External Communications Advisor at Vodafone NZ, told BleepingComputer, adding that "a number of sites blocked and then unblocked in this way". As soon as the horrific content from the Christchurch incident originating from the terrorists is removed, access to the website is reestablished. NZ ISPs are blocking access to #Liveleak, 4chan, 8ch, a certain farm, Mixtape, Mega, and many other sites that are not complying immediately with the takedown orders. Some users reported that LiveLeak video-sharing platform was also blocked in the region, along with other websites, including file-sharing service Mega.Ĭonfirmed. Spark NZ, Vodafone NZ, and Vocus NZ agreed to work together to identify and block access at DNS level to such online locations. 8chan and 4chan are currently unavailable to New Zealanders trying to load them through a connection from the three telcos.Īt the moment, visitors trying to get to these forums through Spark NZ, Vodafone NZ and Vocus NZ see the message "The URL has been blocked for security reasons."
Telcos take actionĪt least three internet companies operating in New Zealand have made this decision voluntarily and enforce it on a temporary basis against sites that still publish the sensitive materials.
Copies of the 17-minute footage spread to other websites, including YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Reddit.Īs mainstream platforms struggled to take down the video and segments of it, some websites continue to make the materials available. A link to the video and a lengthy "manifesto" appeared on 8chan forum, allegedly shared by the shooter.
The attacker live-streamed on his Facebook account his actions that got 49 people killed. Following the Friday mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, multiple internet service providers (ISP) in the country have blocked access to websites that distribute gruesome content from the incident.