Internet companies block video footage of the alleged mosque killings in Christchurch

The live video of the alleged mass killings in Christchurch has been blocked from many Kiwis' screens by internet companies.

Spark said it had worked with Vodafone and Vocus to voluntarily shut down access to the websites on which the video could be watched.

The blocking action was done voluntarily, a Spark spokeswoman said.

"Following the tragic incident in Christchurch yesterday afternoon, Spark, along with many other New Zealand broadband providers have suspended access to a number of overseas websites hosting the live footage taken from the [alleged offender].

"Those websites were not particularly well known to New Zealanders. Considering the horrific circumstances we felt it was the responsible thing to do."

"We continue to proactively attempt to suspend any further websites featuring the disturbing footage, and where possible are liaising with website owners so they can shut the content down. If offending content is removed we will reinstate access.

"We can confirm that liveleak.com is one of the websites temporarily suspended."

Facebook has said it took down a livestream of the shootings and removed the alleged offender's Facebook and Instagram accounts after being alerted by police.

Twitter and YouTube owner Google also said they were working to remove the footage from their sites.