How Censored Can Smartphones Get? Just Look at North Korea | Video

From auto-propaganda to forced screenshots, take a look at what North Korean phones are like – highlighting just how controlled technology can become.

An insight into total technological control.
Photo: AKO

North Korea’s smartphones were never meant to be seen by the outside world, but in a rare deep dive, YouTuber MrWhosetheboss exposed just how the region and its regime rig devices for surveillance, censorship and propaganda.

In his latest video, Arun Maini showcases two smuggled North Korean handsets, including a low-end model and a premium flagship phone conveniently called the “Samtaesung 8.”

These North Korean phones aren’t just censored in a way that they don’t give you access to Google services or chat apps everyone in the world uses; they’re Orwellian-level state tools designed to monitor citizens and enforce ideological conformity.

Based on the hands-on investigation (parts of which have also been previously corroborated by outlets like the BBC), North Korean smartphones exhibit striking levels of censorship.

If you’ve ever wondered what a smartphone looks like when the government takes control of the entire operating system, this is it. When it comes to surveillance, these devices go way beyond your wildest imagination.

They don’t just limit what users can do, but methodically watch what they try to do.

Don’t think this same type of control won’t ever reach the Western world, particularly with the impending Digital ID-by-stealth age verification laws, anti-encryption legislation, surveillance powers, ‘hate speech’ propaganda, etc.