Mick Hartley

In North Korea not only must the watching of foreign media be severely punished in the name of preventing anti-socialist and non-socialist behavior, but actual cases of this happening must be suppressed, in case it arouses interest in the general population. The censorship is censored.

From the Daily NK:

Police and security officials have been instructed by North Korea’s Unified Command on Non-Socialist and Anti-Socialist Behavior to conceal information about incidents involving anti-socialist and non-socialist behavior from the public.

“The orders, signed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, were sent to all parts of the country on June 8,” a source in Pyongyang told Daily NK on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The orders instruct officials to comprehensively analyze and then classify new forms of anti-socialist and non-socialist behavior.”

The orders emphasize the need to compile incidents involving media from “unapproved” foreign countries, particularly South Korea and the U.S. The directive mandates careful monitoring and documentation of the consumption and distribution of foreign media. New types of incidents are to be reviewed and classified at the political level before being archived.

The source said that officials believe classifying these incidents is necessary because releasing information about them to the public can have the unintended effect of weakening people’s ideological commitment to the regime.

“When new cases are presented in public trials and struggle sessions, participants can draw conclusions from trivial details that can undermine their ideology. For young people in particular, simply mentioning the titles of newly banned songs, dances, films, books, magazines, or pictures can arouse their interest,” the source said.

“The orders noted that when provincial branches of the United Command and police departments and state security bureaus release information about new cases, they are essentially shooting themselves in the foot. These law enforcement agencies were severely criticized for failing to do their jobs.” …

Law enforcement agencies should establish the following guidelines for video recordings: They should focus on educational value, omit all details of the offense, and relate the offenders’ corrupt behavior to universally relatable situations.

“The unified command hopes this will prevent North Koreans from being exposed to foreign media and educate them more effectively. It also said that preventing people from being ideologically tainted and corrupted by outside influences will preserve the socialist system and ensure that young people in particular remain staunch supporters of the ‘our state-first’ ideology,” the source said.

Yes it's censorship all the way down, in a country where, as I've noted often enough before, there is no culture outside "our state-first ideology", aka Kim worship.