by REERA YOO | @reeraboo
editor@charactermedia.com
Well, I guess The Interview is out of the question.
Foreign diplomats are no longer allowed to possess any media content critical of Kim Jong-un or the North Korean regime, according to a new ordinance.
UPI reported on Tuesday that any content considered to be slanderous to Pyongyang—including photographs, movies and literature saved on mobile phones, memory sticks or computers—will be forbidden from being kept at foreign embassies and international organizations.
The United Kingdom’s Foreign Office denounced the ban as a violation of international standards of human rights. North Korea’s ordinance, which was issued on June 26, came shortly after the U.K. report on human rights and democracy, which had classified North Korea as a “human rights concern” for reasons including its ban on the freedom of expression.
North Korea is notorious for its censorship. Last year, the Freedom House gave the country a press freedom score of 97, with 100 being the worst possible score.
North Korea also briefly banned Instagram for week in late June, with warnings appearing in English and Korean that the social media platform had been put on the blacklist for harmful content. While almost no North Koreans have free access to the Internet, foreigners can access social media by using 3G on their mobile devices through the country’s local carrier, Koryolink.
Compared to the rest of the North Korean population, foreign diplomats in Pyongyang live in relative comfort. However, the latest ban adds to an already long list of inconveniences, including frequent blackouts due to power shortages.
See Also
North Korea Blacklists Instagram
North Korean Defector Drops ‘The Interview’ in Pyongyang
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Featured image via Reuters
