Australian authorities ordered Internet service providers on Monday to block eight sites that posted content linked to the Christchurch mosque massacre, for the first time since new censorship laws were passed.
After an Australian attacked two mosques in New Zealand in March that killed 51 people and released a live recording of his crime, Canberra expanded censorship laws.
According to electronic safety commissioner Julie Inman Grant, external sites were blacklisted because they "continued to allow the broadcasting of a video of the Christchurch terrorist attacks or the agenda of the supposed attacker."
Authorities have refused to reveal the names of sites that will be blocked for at least six months, as this could increase the number of people visiting those sites.
She asked several other sites to scan the content of the attacks, according to the Cyber Safety Commissioner.
The authorities also said "other remaining sites should remove illegal content to lift their ban."
According to an explanatory statement provided to the Federal Register of Laws, one of the eight sites is a blog focused on "threatening Islam."
The telecom alliance, a telecom lobby group, said Internet providers had already blocked the eight sites voluntarily before the decision, but welcomed the legal clarity provided by the government decision.
Defending the new censorship laws passed by a Conservative-led government, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said last month "this kind of abominable substance has no place in Australia."
"We are doing everything we can to deny terrorists the glorification of their crimes, including local and global action," he said.
A new Crisis Coordination Center is also being established to monitor terrorism-related incidents and violent events for the purpose of censorship.