North Korea has officially announced that it is blocking Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and a slew of other websites which it considers “anti-Republican” as well as some that provide adult material, in a move underscoring its concern with the spread of online information.
The announcement was made by the DPRK’s Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, which was posted this week at the country’s main mobile service provider, Koryolink, and other places serving internet users. It named YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Voice of America, and South Korean media sites as websites that should be blocked “for a certain period of time.” This was made in an effort to prevent foreigners based within the country posting about the interior activity.
It also said “anti-republic false propaganda websites, sex, and adult websites” have been blocked. Facebook and Twitter had been informally blocked for months and could not be accessed on Friday in a Web search from Pyongyang. The announcement added that anyone who tries to hack into such sites, access them in an “improper” way or distribute “anti-republic data” from them will be subject to punishment under the North Korean law. It did not say what the punishment would be.
Very few North Koreans have internet access. Typically they can see only a sealed-off, government-sanctioned intranet. Not many citizens have access to the global internet; it is mostly confined to the country’s universities and to Party elites living in major cities. But foreigners in the country had previously been able to surf the Web freely with almost no overt restrictions, though most likely with behind-the-scenes monitoring of their internet activities. In 2013, North Korea permitted foreign tourists to buy 3G SIM cards for use during their closely-monitored visits.
The new restrictions will make it more difficult for visitors or the small community of foreign residents in North Korea to post real-time information about the country to the outside world, and will further limit the ability of North Koreans with internet access to view information about their country posted elsewhere.
Instagram, which is widely used by tourists visiting the country, is not blocked. Like in China, tourists (and the few internet-connected locals) will need to use a proxy or VPN service to access the blocked sites.