North Korea turns anti-social; bans Facebook, YouTube, Twitter

North Korea bans access to social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

In a bid to ensure that the world doesn’t know the plight of those living in North Korea, the country has banned micro-blogging site Twitter, social networking giant Facebook and video blogging platform YouTube.

Besides, the government has also banned South Korean media websites and Voice of America, along with gambling and porn sites “for a certain period of time”.

The announcement added that anyone who tries to hack onto such sites, access them in an “improper” way or distribute “anti-republic data” from them will be subjected to punishment under North Korean law. However, the order did not mention the punishment.

While the North Korean nationals are used to such diktats, foreign nationals would be the most affected by the decision.

In the ‘restricted’ country, North Koreans always had limited Internet access. They could only see sealed-off, government-sanctioned intranet. Also, foreign nationals in the reclusive nations were allowed to surf the web, but online activities were always watched.