NEW: The BBC has obtained a phone that was smuggled out of North Korea that edits words North Koreans aren't supposed to use.
Wild.
North Korea has now adopted smartphones to indoctrinate its citizens.
If a user tries typing a blocked word, the phone will edit it to a word… pic.twitter.com/InvnIBZPsf
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 31, 2025
A smuggled North Korean phone shows it auto-edits banned words, part of the regime’s strict digital censorship.
The BBC has obtained a phone that was smuggled out of North Korea that edits words North Koreans aren’t supposed to use.
Wild.
North Korea has now adopted smartphones to indoctrinate its citizens.
If a user tries typing a blocked word, the phone will edit it to a word that is acceptable to the North Korean government.
According to the BBC, North Korea is also using “youth crackdown squads” to patrol the streets in search of people using South Korean slang or styles.