Several websites including 4chan have been blocked by major Australian telcos for continuing to host footage of the Christchurch terrorist attack.

Telstra yesterday blocked access to 4chan , 8chan and Voat, the blog Zerohedge and video hosting platform Liveleak.

"We understand this may inconvenience some legitimate users of these sites, but these are extreme circumstances and we feel this is the right thing to do," Telstra networks and IT executive Nikos Katinakis said in a statement.

Optus and Vodafone declined to name which domains they blocked but the same platforms also failed to load on their networks on Tuesday afternoon.

The ban on 4chan was lifted a few hours later.

A Muslim worshiper prays at a makeshift memorial at the Al Noor Mosque. (AAP)

Vodafone said while blocking requests normally came from the courts or law enforcement agencies "this was an extreme case which we think requires an extraordinary response".

"While there were discussions at an industry level about this issue, this is a decision Vodafone Australia came to independently," a spokeswoman said in a statement.

Optus said it had blocked the domains after "reflecting on community expectations".

The telco industry's peak body said the decision to voluntarily block domains was made due to the "extraordinary circumstances" involved.

"These ISPs have sought to balance community expectations to remove access to the video with the need to minimise any inconvenience that may arise from legitimate content being blocked as an unavoidable, temporary consequence," Communications Alliance chief executive John Stanton said in a statement.

Another large internet service provider, TPG, has been contacted for comment.

Alleged gunman Brenton Tarrant live-streamed the attack. (Supplied)

A spokesman for the eSafety commissioner said she did not provide "any direction or advice to Australian ISPs in regard to the blocking of websites".

The office does not have the authority to direct ISPs to block domains but can take action to remove content shared on Australian-hosted websites.

The commissioner is encouraging social media users to report the video and any content supporting the attacks directly to the platforms.

LiveLeak said in a statement it would not carry the video filmed by "the psychopath who murdered 49 innocent people in New Zealand" and continue to remove it whenever it is discovered.

"Whilst we may carry media showing the most terrible of events we don't want to be a vehicle of choice for those who carry these events out. This is a very important distinction for us," it said.

Voat, ZeroHedge, 4chan and 8chan have been contacted for comment.</s>Brenton Tarrant is lad into the dock for his court appearance.

Brenton Tarrant is lad into the dock for his court appearance.

ACCUSED Australian gunman Brenton Tarrant is being denied access to newspapers, television and radio while being held in confinement.

The New Zealand Herald is reporting that the NSW-born alleged killer has been moved from Christchurch to the country's only maximum security prison in Auckland.

The 28-year-old is believed to be under 24-hour surveillance and no visitors have been approved to see him.

The prison has been described as holding the most "complex, volatile and dangerous" men.

It is not known whether he will be flown back to Christchurch for his next court appearance next month or appear via audio visual link.

The news came as social media companies were slammed in New Zealand's parliament for being "all profit no responsibility" as horrific footage of alleged gunman Brenton Tarrant's shooting rampage continues to be posted.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also told parliament she would never utter the alleged Australian gunman's name in public because he did not deserve the notoriety.

In her address, which received applause from both sides of the House, Ms Ardern said what role social played in the massacre of 50 worshippers at two Christchurch mosques last Friday would be looked at.

She said language and division of hate had existed for decades but the tools to carry them were new.

"We cannot simply sit back and accept these platforms just exist and that what is said on them is not the responsibility of the place where they are published," she said.

"They are the publisher not just the postman. They cannot be the case all profit no

Outside parliament she said she had already spoken with British Prime Minister Theresa May about Facebook in particular as the issue of its continued publishing of the rampage footage was a global problem not a Kiwi one.

"We agreed that globally efforts need to be made … we really need a global alliance to deal with some of these issues," she said.

She said she had also spoken with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison about the problem and made clear to Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg it was "unacceptable" footage continued to exist today.

"It's our view that it cannot, should not be distributed, available, able to be viewed, it is horrendous and while they have given us those assurances, ultimately responsibility sits with them," she said.

Australia's three largest telcos began blocking customers from more than 40 websites suspected of hosting distressing footage from the terrorist attack.

Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone banned users accessing the websites despite the lack of a court order, with Vodafone revealing the decision came after "industry discussions".

It's understood the ban extends to 45 websites in total, including 8chan - the site where alleged Christchurch mosque shooter uploaded his "manifesto" - and others including 4chan, Best Gore, Death Addict, Kiwi Farms, Lulz, and Zero Hedge.

The effort has been co-ordinated by industry group Communications Alliance, even though it has warned against laws forcing internet service providers to block websites in the past, in case they "hamper legitimate activities and disadvantage consumers".

The internet service providers did not clarify how long the temporary block would remain in place.

It came as it was revealed the American operator of a message board website has refused New Zealand police requests for data related to its posting of Tarrant's alleged 73-page manifesto to kill.

In an obscenity-laden abusive post, Kiwi Farms founder Joshua Moon said New Zealand was a "small irrelevant island nation" and a "sh*thole country" and he would not help authorities.

"Tell your superiors they're going to make the entire country and its government look like clowns by trying to censor the internet," he told the police officer who made the request for help.

While Facebook has so far removed more than 1.5 million videos from their platform, others such as Kiwi Farms have not.

Meanwhile, Ms Ardern said she would never speak the name of the 28-year-old alleged gunman Tarrant.

"He sought many things from his act of terror, but one was notoriety and that is why you will never hear me mention his name," she said.

"He is a terrorist, he is a criminal, he is an extremist but he will when I speak be nameless. To others I implore you speak the names of those who are lost rather than the name of the man who took them. He may have sought notoriety but we in New Zealand will give him nothing, not even his name."

US TV host Stephen Colbert has cancelled an unexpected Late Show visit to New Zealand in the wake of a terrorist attack that killed 50 people.

Colbert said it was not the time to distract from the gravity of the events that unfolded last Friday.

"I just love that country," Colbert said.

"If you've never been, go. The people there are unbelievably kind and welcoming. Obviously, we're not going to go down now but we hope to go down in the future and again, we want to say to everyone down there how sad and heartbroken we are for what that country is going through.

"For one of the hallmarks of New Zealand and one of the things I have always thought of, is it's this wonderful, isolated country so far away from the problems we take for granted here north of the equator.

"And now this very particular brand of evil has infected that country like a ghost, something you wouldn't imagine.

"Truly, an evil creature has arrived on that island. I pray with all my heart that they take action down there and have the courage to take action that we seem to lack up here in the United States. Good luck to them and blessings and peace to the Muslim community there and everywhere in the world."

Colbert's plan took shape after Jacinda Ardern appeared on the show last September, inviting the star to visit New Zealand.

Autopsies have been completed on all 50 victims of the Christchurch terror attacks, reports the New Zealand Herald.

In a statement, police said 12 victims had been officially identified and six of those have now been released to their families.

"Police are acutely aware of frustrations by families associated with the length of time required for the identification process following Friday's terror attack," the police statement said.

"While identification may seem straightforward the reality is much more complex, particularly in a situation like this.

"Our absolute priority is to get this right and ensure that no mistakes are made.

"We are doing all we can to undertake this work as quickly as possible and return the victims to their loved ones."

Families of the dead have been left frustrated as they wait for their loved ones' bodies to be returned to them.

Islamic religious law usually calls for the body to be washed and shrouded before being buried within 24 hours of death.

A senior member of ISIS has called for revenge after in the wake of the Christchurch attack.

The terrorist organisation's spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir has reportedly issued an appeal in a 44-minute audio recording.

The New York Times reported that al-Muhajir broke six months of silence to call for retaliation.

"The scenes of the massacres in the two mosques should wake up those who were fooled, and should incite the supporters of the caliphate to avenge their religion," he said.

Al-Muhajir compared the massacre to the ongoing battle in Baghuz, ISIS' only remaining piece of territory in Syria.

"Here is Baghuz in Syria, where Muslims are burned to death and are bombed by all known and unknown weapons of mass destruction," he said.

But The New York Times reported that officials believe those killed in Baghuz are mostly Islamic State fighters or their wives and children.</s>Facebook removed 1.5 million videos of the mass shootings at two mosques in New Zealand in the day after the attack Friday.

Mia Garlick, director of policy for Facebook New Zealand, issued a statement saying that Facebook removed 1.5 million videos of the shooting, including 1.2 million that were blocked at upload, in the first 24 hours after the attack.

Garlick did not specify the reason why 20 percent of the videos were not blocked at upload.

"Out of respect for the people affected by this tragedy and the concerns of local authorities, we're also removing all edited versions of the video that do not show graphic content," she added.

The accused shooter, who has since appeared in court, live streamed the attack at two mosques in the city of Christchurch on Friday in which 50 people were killed and 36 were hospitalized as of Saturday.

Facebook said police alerted it to a video of the shooting on the platform shortly after the shooter started the live stream his Facebook profile. The social media giant said it "quickly removed both the shooter's Facebook and Instagram accounts and the video."

Garlick said Facebook will also remove "any praise or support for the crime and the shooter or shooters as we're aware."

"We will continue working directly with New Zealand Police as their response and investigation continues," she said.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that there were "further questions to be answered" by Facebook and other social media sites, regarding their response to the events surrounding the shooting.

On Sunday, New Zealand's government informed Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other online platforms that sharing any version of the footage, including those edited to remove graphic content, is a violation of the law.

Ardern said New Zealand did as much as it could do to "remove or seek to have removed some of the footage" but the primary task of preventing the spread of the videos was "up to those platforms."

This article has been adapted from its original source.</s>
• Facebook said no users reported the video of the New Zealand mosque shootings while it was still live.
• This was disputed by a reporter for Right Wing Watch, who said he was alerted to the live video and raised the alarm immediately.
• The shooter streamed the attack on Facebook, and despite copies of the video spreading like wildfire, the company said the live broadcast was viewed fewer than 200 times.

Facebook has provided further details of its response to the video of the mosque shooting which left 50 people dead in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Friday.

The attack was streamed live on Facebook via what is thought to be a body-mounted camera. A link to the stream was posted on 8Chan, an imageboard site known for a being a hotbed of far-right extremist views.

In a blog published Monday, Facebook said the live video was viewed fewer than 200 times. After the livestream ended, the video was viewed a further 3,800 times before being taken down, Facebook said.

Read more: YouTube’s human moderators couldn’t stem the deluge of Christchurch massacre videos, so YouTube benched them

According to Facebook, no one reported the video while it was live, and the first user report came in 12 minutes after the broadcast ended, 29 minutes after it began.

This has been challenged. Jared Holt, a reporter for Right Wing Watch, said he was alerted to the live stream and reported it mid-attack.

“I was sent a link to the 8chan post by someone who was scared shortly after it was posted. I followed the Facebook link shared in the post. It was mid-attack and it was horrifying. I reported it,” Holt tweeted. “Either Facebook is lying or their system wasn’t functioning properly.”

Facebook did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment. It said on Sunday that it removed 1.5 million versions of the video that were uploaded to the platform.</s>Facebook has finally responded to international outrage following the live streaming of the massacre of worshippers in two Christchurch mosques.

Four days after a gunman went on rampage killing 50 people and injuring dozens of others, Facebook vice president Chris Sonderby defended the platform’s response to the live stream and reassured users it was working to stop hate content being posted on the platform.

He said the live stream had fewer than 200 viewers and more than 1.5 million videos of the massacre were removed or blocked in the 24 hours after the attack.

“We remain shocked and saddened by this tragedy and are committed to working with leaders in New Zealand, other governments, and across the technology industry to help counter hate speech and the threat of terrorism,” he said.

“We continue to work around the clock to prevent this content from appearing on our site, using a combination of technology and people.

“We have been working directly with the New Zealand Police to respond to the attack and support their investigation.

“We removed the attacker’s video within minutes of their outreach to us, and in the aftermath, we have been providing an on-the-ground resource for law enforcement authorities.”

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Sunday said she would raise her concerns directly with Facebook about whether live streaming should be stopped.

The Australian and British governments have joined in increasing pressure on Facebook, Google and Youtube to act swiftly on terrorist content being shared on their platforms.

Mr Sonderby said New Zealand police had asked that some details of the response to broadcast not be released, but he revealed details about the action Facebook took when it became aware a terrorist attack had been live streamed.

He said no Facebook users reported the video during the live broadcast, which was viewed fewer than 200 times.

He said the first user report was made 12 minutes after the broadcast ended.

The original Facebook Live video was removed and the personal accounts of the shooting suspect were removed, Mr Sonderby said.

“In the first 24 hours, we removed about 1.5 million videos of the attack globally,” he said.

“More than 1.2 million of those videos were blocked at upload, and were therefore prevented from being seen on our services.

“This incident highlights the importance of industry cooperation regarding the range of terrorists and violent extremists operating online.”</s>Pressure is building on Inc. and other social media platforms to stop hosting extremist propaganda including terrorist events, after Friday’s deadly attacks on two mosques in New Zealand were live-streamed.

Australia’s prime minister has urged the Group of 20 nations to use a meeting in June to discuss a crack down, while New Zealand media reported the nation’s biggest banks have pulled their advertising from and

“We cannot simply sit back and accept that these platforms just exist and what is said is not the responsibility of the place where they are published,” New Zealand Prime Minister told parliament on Tuesday. “They are the publisher, not just the postman. There cannot be a case of all profit, no responsibility.”

said it had been working directly with and across the technology industry to "help counter hate speech and the threat of terrorism."

The lone shooter accused of killing 50 people in the New Zealand city of live-streamed the murders, with the video continuing to be widely available on a range of platforms hours after the attack. The suspect, an Australian, uploaded his hate-filled manifesto online shortly before launching his assault.

It’s the latest example of social media struggling to keep offensive content from sites that generate billions of dollars in revenue from advertisers -- a problem that’s seen Facebook founder grilled by Congress.

The shooting video was viewed fewer than 200 times during its live broadcast, and no users reported the video during that time, Facebook Vice-President and deputy general counsel Chris Sonderby said in a blog post. It was reported to the company 29 minutes after the video started and viewed 4,000 times before being removed, he said.

The should discuss the issue at its Osaka Summit in June, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Tuesday in an open letter to this year’s host, Japan counterpart The group should work to ensure technology firms implement appropriate filtering and remove terrorist-linked content, and show transparency in meeting those requirements, he said.

“It is unacceptable to treat the internet as an ungoverned space,” Morrison said. “It is imperative that the global community works together to ensure that technology firms meet their moral obligation to protect the communities which they serve and from which they profit.”

Ardern’s government will look at the role social media played and what steps it can take, including on the stage. Previously she vowed to seek talks with Facebook, which said it blocked the upload of 1.2 million video clips and removed another 300,000 within 24 hours.

The New Zealand business community is becoming increasingly vocal that the social-media should be rebuked by restricting their bottom line.

The is encouraging advertisers to recognize they have a choice where their advertising dollars are spent and to carefully consider where ads appear.

“We challenge Facebook and other platform owners to immediately take steps to effectively moderate hate content before another tragedy can be streamed online,” the association said in a statement.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s three biggest broadband providers called on Facebook, Twitter and to join an urgent discussion at an industry and government level to find a solution to the live-streaming and hosting of video footage such as that produced in

“The discussion must start somewhere,” the chief executives of the said in an open letter on their websites Tuesday. “Social media companies and hosting platforms that enable the sharing of user-generated content with the public have a legal duty of care to protect their users and wider society by preventing the uploading and sharing of content such as this video.”

Artificial intelligence techniques could be deployed and, for the most serious types of content, more onerous requirements should apply including taking down the material within a specified period, proactive measures and fines for failure to do so, they said.</s>CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — A white supremacist suspected in shootings at two mosques that killed 49 people during midday Friday prayers posted an anti-immigrant manifesto online and apparently used a helmet-mounted camera to broadcast live video of the slaughter on Facebook.

Brenton Harrison Tarrant appeared in court Saturday morning amid strict security and showed no emotion when the judge read him one murder charge. The judge said “it was reasonable to assume” more such charges would follow.

Two other armed suspects were taken into custody while police tried to determine what role, if any, they played in the cold-blooded attack that stunned New Zealand, a country so peaceful that police officers rarely carry guns.

It was by far the deadliest shooting in modern New Zealand history.

“It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, noting that many of the victims could be migrants or refugees.

She pronounced it “one of New Zealand’s darkest days.”

Tarrant, who police say carried out at least one of the shootings, posted a jumbled, 74-page manifesto on social media in which he identified himself as a 28-year-old Australian and white supremacist who was out to avenge attacks in Europe perpetrated by Muslims.

The gunman also livestreamed in graphic detail 17 minutes of his rampage at Al Noor Mosque, where, armed with at least two assault rifles and a shotgun, he sprayed worshippers with bullets over and over, killing at least 41 people. Several more people were killed in an attack on a second mosque in the city a short time later.

At least 48 people were wounded, some critically. Police also defused explosive devices in a car.

Police did not say whether the same person was responsible for both shootings. They gave no details about those taken into custody except to say that none had been on any watch list. During the Saturday morning hearing, a man who was not in court was charged with using writings to incite hatred against a race or ethnicity, but it was not clear if his case was related to the mosque attacks.

Tarrant’s relatives in the Australian town of Grafton, in New South Wales, contacted police after learning of the shooting and were helping with the investigation, local authorities said. Tarrant has spent little time in Australia in the past four years and only had minor traffic infractions on his record.

On Saturday, outside one of the two mosques, 32-year-old Ash Mohammed pushed through police barricades in hopes of finding out what happened to his father and two brothers, whose cellphones rang unanswered. An officer stopped him.

“We just want to know if they are dead or alive,” Mohammed told the officer.

In the aftermath, the country’s threat level was raised from low to high, police warned Muslims against going to a mosque anywhere in New Zealand, and the national airline canceled several flights in and out of Christchurch, a city of nearly 400,000.

World leaders condemned the violence and offered condolences, with President Donald Trump tweeting, “We stand in solidarity with New Zealand.” Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan and other Islamic leaders pointed to the bloodbath and other such attacks as evidence of rising hostility toward Muslims since 9/11.

New Zealand, with a population of 5 million, has relatively loose gun laws and an estimated 1.5 million firearms, or roughly one for every three people. But it has one of the lowest gun homicide rates in the world. In 2015, it had just eight gun homicides.

Before Friday’s attack, New Zealand’s deadliest shooting in modern history took place in 1990 in the small town of Aramoana, where a gunman killed 13 people following a dispute with a neighbor.

On Saturday, the prime minister said the “primary perpetrator” in the shootings was a licensed gun owner and legally acquired the five guns used. Ardern said the country’s gun laws will change as a result of the carnage, but she did not specify how.

New Zealand is also generally considered to be welcoming to migrants and refugees. On Saturday, people across the country were reaching out to Muslims in their communities on social media to volunteer acts of kindness — offering rides to the grocery store or volunteering to walk with them if they felt unsafe. In other forums, people discussed Muslim food restrictions as they prepared to drop off meals for those affected.

The prime minister said the attack reflected “extremist views that have absolutely no place in New Zealand.”

Immigrants “have chosen to make New Zealand their home, and it is their home,” Ardern said. “They are us.”

At the White House, Trump called the bloodshed “a terrible thing” but rejected any suggestion the white nationalist movement is a rising threat around the world, saying it is “a small group of people that have very, very serious problems.”

Tarrant, in his rambling manifesto, deemed Trump “a symbol of renewed white identity.”

At the Al Noor mosque, witness Len Peneha said he saw a man dressed in black and wearing a helmet with some kind of device on top enter the house of worship and then heard dozens of shots, followed by people running out in terror.

Peneha, who lives next door, said the gunman ran out of the mosque, dropped what appeared to be a semi-automatic weapon in his driveway and fled. Peneha then went into the mosque to help the victims.

“I saw dead people everywhere. There were three in the hallway, at the door leading into the mosque, and people inside the mosque,” he said. “I don’t understand how anyone could do this to these people, to anyone. It’s ridiculous.”

Facebook, Twitter and Google scrambled to take down the gunman’s video, which was widely available on social media for hours after the bloodbath.

In the video, the killer spends more than two minutes inside the mosque spraying terrified worshippers with gunfire. He then walks outside, where he shoots at people on the sidewalk. Children’s screams can be heard in the distance as he returns to his car to get another rifle. He walks back into the mosque, where there are at least two dozen people lying on the ground.

After going back outside and shooting a woman there, he gets back in his car, where a song can be heard blasting. The singer bellows, “I am the god of hellfire!” and the gunman drives off before police even arrive.

The second attack took place at the Linwood mosque about 5 kilometers (3 miles) away. Mark Nichols told the New Zealand Herald that he heard about five gunshots and that a worshipper returned fire with a rifle or shotgun.

The footage showed the killer was carrying a shotgun and two fully automatic military assault rifles, with an extra magazine taped to one of the weapons so that he could reload quickly. He also had more assault weapons in the trunk of his car, along with what appeared to be explosives.

His manifesto was a welter of often politically contradictory views, touching on many of the most combustible issues of the day, among them the Second Amendment right to own guns, Muslim immigration, terrorist attacks and the wealthiest 1 percent.

He portrayed himself as a racist and a fascist and raged against non-Westerners, but said China is the nation that most aligns with his political and social values.

The gunman said he was not a member of any organization, acted alone and chose New Zealand to show that even the most remote parts of the world are not free of “mass immigration.”

Last year, New Zealand’s prime minister announced that the country would boost its annual refugee quota from 1,000 to 1,500 in 2020. Ardern, whose party campaigned on a promise to take in more refugees, called it “the right thing to do.”

Christchurch, sometimes called the Garden City, has been rebuilding since an earthquake in 2011 killed 185 people and destroyed many downtown buildings.

This story has been amended to delete incorrect reference to Tarrant identifying himself by name in his manifesto.

Perry reported from Wellington. Associated Press writers Juliet Williams in Christchurch; Kristen Gelineau in Sydney; Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia; and Chris Blake in Bangkok contributed to this report.</s>
• A survivor of the mass shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, last Friday said he learned of his brother's death from the gunman's livestream of the shooting.
• Ramzan Ali said he was able to escape the Al Noor mosque but learned that his brother died when he saw his body in the video footage.
• Ali is thought to be the last person to get out of the Al Noor mosque, where 41 people were killed.
• A livestream of the shooting was posted to Facebook. The platform and other tech companies have been battling to delete copies of the footage.

A survivor in the New Zealand mosque shootings said he learned about his younger brother's death in the attack by watching the gunman's livestream.

Ramzan Ali told The New Zealand Herald that he was able to hide under a bench and escape out of a window when the gunman entered the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch. But his brother Ashraf Ali, 40, was still inside.

Ali looked for news of his brother outside the mosque, but he was only able to confirm his brother's death by watching a livestream of the gunman's attack, which he posted on Facebook, spread to other social media platforms, and was reposted by a number of news sites.

It's not clear where Ali watched the livestream.

Read more: Facebook says no one reported the New Zealand mosque shootings live video. But a reporter says he raised the alarm mid-attack.

Ali told the Herald that he recognized his brother, lying on a pile of dead bodies, from his grey hair and his rugby jersey from Fiji, their home country.

"That's him," Ali said. "Straight away I knew." He said he was 95% certain that his brother was dead, but "5% in me was saying he could have survived."

Flowers and signs at a memorial site for the mosque shooting victims at the Botanic Gardens in Christchurch on Monday. REUTERS/Edgar Su

Forty-one people were killed in the Al Noor mosque, and seven were killed in the Linwood mosque, located 3-1/2 miles away, last Friday.

Ali is thought to be the last person to get out of the Al Noor mosque alive. He was photographed on the phone with bloodstained clothing as he waited outside the mosque for news of his brother.

Ali said his brother had to sit on a bench at the back of the room because he had a sore hip, so was more exposed to the gunfire. He had arrived in the country six days earlier for a yearly visit to his brother.

Ashraf Ali was the youngest of nine children in the family, and he had a daughter in Melbourne, the Herald reported.

He was the owner of a taxi company and a skilled soccer player, Ramzan Ali said.

"He will always be with me," Ali said. "I will never be able to forget him."

Read more: Here's what we know about the victims of the mosque mass shootings in New Zealand that killed at least 50 people

Ashraf's body had not been released to the family as of Tuesday, according to the Herald.

Candles commemorating victims of the mosque shootings outside the Al Noor mosque on Monday. AP Photo/Vincent Thian

The killer streamed the shootings live on Facebook, leaving tech companies scrambling

Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian identified as the suspected shooter, posted a livestream of himself carrying out the attacks on Facebook.

The footage was taken at the Al Noor mosque. No footage of the Linwood mosque was shared.

Police had urged people not to share the footage, which appears to have been taken from a camera on a helmet or attached to the shooter's head.

Facebook removed the video and said it deleted 1.5 million videos of the attack from its platform within 24 hours. It said it blocked 1.2 million videos while they were being uploaded — meaning 300,000 videos of the shootings did appear on the platform at some point.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she planned to take up the issue of the livestream with Facebook.

Family members from Fiji pray at a memorial site for victims of the shooting in front of Christchurch Botanic Gardens on Tuesday. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

The footage also spread quickly to other platforms, including Twitter and YouTube, leaving multiple tech firms scrambling to keep it from appearing on their sites.

News outlets are also in hot water for broadcasting the footage. Sky News Australia was dropped by New Zealand's biggest satellite television provider after it aired the footage.

A spokesperson for Sky News Australia told Business Insider in an email that its use of the footage was in line with other broadcasters.

"Sky News Australia in line with other broadcasters ran heavily edited footage that did not show vision inside the mosque, the shootings or the victims," it said.
• Read more about the New Zealand terror attacks:
• New Zealand quickly moves to reform gun laws after mosque massacre that killed 50, and promises detailed proposals within 10 days
• A white nationalist conspiracy theory was at the heart of the New Zealand shooting. This isn't the first time it's been associated with terror attacks.
• This timeline of the Christchurch mosque terror attacks shows how New Zealand's deadliest shooting unfolded
• A man is being hailed as a hero for facing off with the Christchurch mosque gunman and likely saving lives</s>New Zealand’s Cabinet has backed changes to gun laws in the country just three days after 50 people were killed in shootings at two mosques in Christchurch.

Police have also confirmed they believe “absolutely” that only one perpetrator was responsible for the attacks during Friday prayers.

Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian, has been charged with murder and appeared at court on Saturday. He was remanded until April 5.

On Monday, prime minister Jacinda Ardern said the Cabinet had made “in principle” decisions about gun law reform, with further details to be announced by next Monday.

“This ultimately means that within 10 days of this horrific act of terrorism, we will have announced reforms which will, I believe, make our communities safer,” she said.

Ms Ardern said the Cabinet was “absolutely unified”, and said the shootings had “exposed a range of weaknesses” in New Zealand’s gun laws.

She added that there would be an inquiry into the events leading up to the attacks.

It also emerged that the alleged perpetrator bought four weapons online from a gun store in Christchurch.

David Tipple, owner of Gun City, said the alleged gunman bought four “A category” firearms and ammunition through a “police-verified online mail order process”.

Mr Tipple told reporters: “I returned from Europe on Saturday and immediately searched all our purchase records and found the alleged gunman’s purchases. I provided the police with full details of the sales.

“We detected nothing extraordinary about this licence holder.”

He added: “The MSSA (military-style semi-automatic) reportedly used by the alleged gunman was not purchased from Gun City.”

Mr Tipple said he and his staff were “devastated” by the shootings, adding: “We can’t comprehend how such despicable actions could be carried out on those in prayer in their place of worship.”

Meanwhile, New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush said police were confident a lone attacker was responsible for the shootings.

“We believe absolutely there was only one attacker responsible for this,” he said.

“That doesn’t mean there weren’t possibly people in support and that is to form an important part of our investigation.”

On Monday morning, two homes in New South Wales, Australia, were raided by police in connection with the mosque attacks.

Officers from the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team executed a search warrant at a home in the town of Sandy Beach, near Coffs Harbour, 330 miles north of Sydney, at 8.30am (9.30pm Sunday GMT).

A short time later, a second warrant was executed at a home further north in Lawrence, near MacLean.

New South Wales Police said: “The primary aim of the activity is to formally obtain material that may assist New Zealand Police in their ongoing investigation.”

“The family of the Australian man arrested in Christchurch continues to assist police with their inquiries.”

Thirty-one people remain in Christchurch Hospital after the mass shootings, nine of them in intensive care.

A four-year-old girl is in a critical condition in Starship Hospital in Auckland, while her father is in the same hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Tarrant appeared to have live-streamed the terror attack and outlined his anti-immigrant motives in a manifesto posted online.

On Sunday, Ms Ardern said her office was one of more than 30 recipients of an emailed copy of the manifesto just nine minutes before guns were fired.

Facebook said it had removed 1.5 million videos of the attack worldwide in the 24 hours after the shootings, 1.2 million of which were blocked at upload.

Of those killed in the massacre, 42 died at the Masjid Al Noor mosque on Deans Avenue in central Christchurch, seven were killed at the suburban Linwood Masjid Mosque, and one person died at Christchurch Hospital.

In the video live-streamed by Tarrant, a man inside a mosque appears to say: “Welcome brother”, as a gunman approaches.

A number of improvised explosive devices found on a vehicle after the shootings were defused by police.

British security sources said there were no apparent UK links to the attack.</s>CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Sunday said she intends to ask Facebook how the Christchurch gunman, who slaughtered 50 people during Friday prayers, was able to livestream the massacre. Using a GoPro camera, the terrorist broadcast extremely graphic footage of him shooting people at the Al Noor Mosque via Facebook Live. The livestream was available to watch on social media for hours after the attack.

 In a press conference on Sunday, Ardern said the New Zealand Government did its best to take down the video, but its power to do so is limited.

 “We did as much as we could to remove or seek to have removed some of the footage that was being circulated in the aftermath of this terrorist attack. Ultimately, though, it has been up to those platforms to facilitate their removal and support their removal.”

 She indicated disapproval at social media giants such as Facebook for allowing graphic content to be uploaded and shared widely.

 “I do think there are further questions to be answered. Obviously these social media platforms have wide reach,” she said.

 “This is a problem that goes well beyond New Zealand, it has played out in other parts of the world. So whilst we might have seen action taken here, that hasn’t prevented [the footage] being circulated.

 “This is an issue that goes well beyond New Zealand, but it doesn’t mean we can’t play an active role in getting it resolved.”

 Facebook on Sunday said it has removed 1.5 million videos of the shootings “in the first 24 hours” after the attack. “We continue to work around the clock to remove violating content using a combination of technology and people,” Facebook New Zealand’s Mia Garlick said on Twitter.

 Garlick said that, of the removed videos, 1.2 million were “blocked at upload.” “Out of respect for the people affected by this tragedy and the concerns of local authorities, we’re also removing all edited versions of the video that do not show graphic content,” she said.

 During the press conference, Ardern was also asked about the comments made by Australian senator Fraser Anning, who said immigration was to blame for the shooting.

 Anning’s remarks were widely condemned and he was publicly egged by a teenage boy who has since been hailed as a hero. When asked for her reaction to the comments, Ardern was blunt. “They were a disgrace.”

 — dpa/IANS
Telstra blocks access to several websites in Australia for hosting footage of the recent mass shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, which were livestreamed on Facebook, including LiveLeak, 4chan, 8chan, Voat and the blog Zero Hedge. Optus and Vodafone took similar actions but did not list which sites had been blocked.