North Korea blacklists Instagram after hotel fire pics put on social media

Warnings are appearing on Instagram accounts in North Korea telling users that the popular photo-sharing app is now blacklisted. The notice says the service – which is owned by Facebook – contains harmful content. The warnings have been appearing sporadically over the past five days. Internet provider Koryolink, on which the warnings have appeared, said it has had no notice from the government that Instagram has been blacklisted. It is unclear whether the blacklist status is an official ruling, or where the warnings originate from.

Warning! You can’t connect to this website because it’s in blacklist site.

Message to people in North Korea looking to access Instagram

Despite the warnings, the site is still usable on mobile devices but virtually impossible to access on a desktop. The apparent crackdown comes after a fire on 11 June at a luxury hotel used by tourists and foreign visitors in Pyongyang. Photos of the fire leaked out of the country and appeared in media around the world despite not being reported by North Korea’s state-run media. The internet and social media is off-limits to most North Koreans, but foreigners in the country can use 3G on their phones.

We have been using Instagram to post photos from our DPRK tours since Koryolink, the local provider, announced that 3G SIM cards would be available to foreigners for purchase.

Andrea Lee, CEO of Uri Tours

Instagram blacklisted Asia-Pacific