North Korea officially blocks Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
Earlier
this month, North Korea made the decision to block Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
and South Korean websites. According to an article on Mashable (2016), North
Koreans in general cannot access these sites due to a lack of internet access;
this decision was made to limit what visitors can post about North Korea while
visiting the country (The Associated Press). Overall, this effort is an attempt to control what
is said about North Korea over the internet.
In North
Korea, most citizens with internet access can only access a “sealed-off, government
sanctioned intranet” (The Associated Press, 2016). Under this new restriction, foreigners visiting
the country will no longer be able to browse the internet and access their own
social media. This decision was made to limit the ability for people to post
social media updates about visits to the country, but will also restrict North
Koreans from seeing information posted about their country (The Associated Press, 2016).
The
internet is one of the largest globalized aspects of our world. Internet
restrictions vary from country to country, but overall the internet is seen as
an open, accessible space. However, in North Korea, those who can access the
internet are very limited in what they can see and do on the internet, an issue
that we in North America do not generally face.
North Korea’s
internet restriction is similar to China’s internet restriction, as outlined in
Flew & Waisbord’s (2015) article about media systems. China, too, has
promoted local internet sites instead of large, global social networks, such as
Facebook (Flew & Waisbord, 2015, p. 629). While China is drastically
different than North Korea is, internet access-wise, the intent between the two
countries is similar – the country controls the content its citizens are able
to access. Both countries also cite security concerns as a reason for
restriction what sites can or cannot be accessed.
Flew &
Waisbord (2015) believe that looking at a country’s media system can provide
insight to “political, economic, social, and cultural forces grounded in the local,
the national, and the global” (p. 632). What I gain from researching North
Korea’s internet layout, especially under these new rules, is that North Korea’s
political forces are attempting to control their citizens’ access. While I
understand national security concerns, I believe that restricting citizens’ and
visitors’ access could be detrimental. It will be interesting to see how this
new restriction plays out.
Flew, T., & Waisbord, S.
(2015). The ongoing significance of national media systems in the context of media
globalization. Media, Culture & Society, 37, 620-636.
The Associated Press. (2016). North Korea officially blocks Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2016/04/01/north-korea-blocks-facebook- twitter/#4iTmo14EXiq2
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