Shuts down North Korean propaganda channels

NORTH KOREA - YouTube has shut down two North Korean propaganda channels that academics use to monitor and assess the regime’s missile programs. Stimmekoreas, the most popular YouTube channel on North Korea with more than 20,000 subscribers, and Uriminzokkiri, which had more than 18,000 subscribers, frequently posted of videos of state TV news clips and other footage, attracting millions of views.

On Friday they were terminated for violating YouTube’s community guidelines. Arms control expert Jeffrey Lewis uses these channels to analyze videos of missile launches and tours of factories, to better understand the regime’s nuclear capabilities. He urged YouTube to revoke its decision in the interest of national security. “North Korea is a country with thermonuclear weapons sitting on ICBMs [intercontinental ballistic missiles] that can reach the United States. It is really important to understand them even if we don’t like them,” he said. “That starts by analyzing their propaganda. Even though it’s tendentious, you can learn a lot about a country from the lies they tell.” Stimmekoreas is believed to be operated by a supporter of North Korea who lives outside of the country and posts hi-resolution videos of state propaganda from the Korean Central News Agency in a variety of languages. Uriminzokkiri is directly tied to North Korea’s propaganda wing, and posts content that appears to target North Koreans living abroad. (theguardian)