Leaked North Korea phone unmasks insane levels of baked in censorship

A smartphone smuggled out of North Korea in late 2024 has showcased how the nation is performing extensive levels of censorship across digital devices, or at the very least, just smartphones.

Residents of North Korea are unable to leave the country and are under constant supervision, along with suppression by the North Korean government. While most of that has been known for quite some time, we have just gotten a brief peek behind the curtain as a smartphone has been smuggled out of North Korea and made it back over to the West, where it was opened up to reveal the insane levels of control the government has over its citizens.

For example, the smartphone is completely localized to North Korea, meaning it doesn't have access to what we know as Google Search. Moreover, the smartphone is programmed to automatically replace words the government has banned with other words. An example of this is the South Korean word "oppa," which translates to "older brother".

However, South Korean culture has changed the definition of the word as it's a popular phrase to use when referring to friends of romantic partners. Something as trivial as this has been changed within the North Korean device to the word "comrade". When a user types the word "oppa" within the device, the smartphone automatically converts that text into "comrade," and a message appears to the user that states "This word can only be used to describe your siblings."

When typing the words South Korea, they are automatically changed to "puppet state," which is a popular way North Korea refers to South Korea. What is probably the most egregious form of censorship is the device taking screenshots every five minutes and then sending those screenshots to the North Korean authorities. Users are able to see the screenshots being taken within the files app of the device, but are unable to open them.