Internet Censorship
The totalitarian state of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has been ranked, according to the NewYorkTimes.com article by Tom Zeller Jr., "The Internet Black Hole That Is North Korea," by the Committee to Protect Journalists as the number one most censored country in the world. A more recent BBC News article "North Korea country profile" explains that in the country, "[o]nline access is 'exceedingly rare', and limited to sites that comprise the domestic intranet." Thus to say that the internet is censored in North Korea would be a bit of an understatement.
In the same NewYorkTimes.com article, Zeller goes on to write "While other restrictive regimes have sought to find ways to limit the Internet — through filters and blocks and threats — North Korea has chosen to stay wholly off the grid." This essentially means that what North Korea has done is make its own private internet. “It is by far the worst Internet black hole" says Reporters Without Borders official Julien Pain on NewYorkTimes.com (Zeller).
So now you may be asking what exactly is on this closed internet. Well, the truth is that it is not widely know what lies on the inside of the network. One could speculate that it is more propaganda about the country, its leaders, or negative coverage about the US. Through all this uncertainty however, one thing is clear: "Content is chosen, and user activity monitored, by the authorities" (BBC News).
In the same NewYorkTimes.com article, Zeller goes on to write "While other restrictive regimes have sought to find ways to limit the Internet — through filters and blocks and threats — North Korea has chosen to stay wholly off the grid." This essentially means that what North Korea has done is make its own private internet. “It is by far the worst Internet black hole" says Reporters Without Borders official Julien Pain on NewYorkTimes.com (Zeller).
So now you may be asking what exactly is on this closed internet. Well, the truth is that it is not widely know what lies on the inside of the network. One could speculate that it is more propaganda about the country, its leaders, or negative coverage about the US. Through all this uncertainty however, one thing is clear: "Content is chosen, and user activity monitored, by the authorities" (BBC News).
Although, beyond the average citizen, speculation has occurred that even high ranking elites of the country do not see the full internet. Zeller writes how some speculate that even members of North Korea's elite class, whom are roomered to have broader internet access, still have many restrictions placed on the content they can view.
This is all in stark contrest to when, according to the NewYorkTimes.com article, Kim Jong-Il asked for the email address of a US diplomat, showing that he does have full internet access, even when the twenty four million people he resides over, do not. Thus it seems his idea is simple: keeping the people uneducated keeps them in line, a distinct dystopian aspect of totalitarian regimes.
This is all in stark contrest to when, according to the NewYorkTimes.com article, Kim Jong-Il asked for the email address of a US diplomat, showing that he does have full internet access, even when the twenty four million people he resides over, do not. Thus it seems his idea is simple: keeping the people uneducated keeps them in line, a distinct dystopian aspect of totalitarian regimes.
The video here is a clip from ABC News about the New York Philharmonic traveling to North Korea. During the segment, Bob Woodruff reports on what internet usage, at least what he saw, is like within North Korea. It is a bit surprising, but not much of a departure than what you would expect from the dystopian state.
