SEOUL: YouTube has cut off access to a state-run North Korean propaganda channel, as the US seeks to impose tougher sanctions following Pyongyang’s recent nuclear and missile tests.
The shutdown of Uriminzokkiri, which regularly posted video footage boasting of the North’s nuclear and missile programs and others praising the North’s leader Kim Jong-Un, was confirmed Saturday.
“This account has been terminated for violating YouTube’s community guidelines,” said the video sharing website.
YouTube gives no details on reasons why particular accounts are closed down, or for how long. But advertising revenue generated by the accounts could violate US trade sanctions.
Academics use official footage from the channels of missile launches and visits to factories by Kim to gain rare insights into the progress of the country’s weapons programs.
“Tracking and digitally reconstructing events is going to be more difficult as these accounts get deleted,” Scott Lafoy, a Washington-based satellite imagery analyst, told NK News.
The channel serves various propaganda purposes for North Korea.
Last month, Uriminzokkiri published a video featuring the two sons of James Joseph Dresnok, in which they said their father — the only US soldier known still to be living in North Korea after defecting more than five decades ago — had died last year pledging loyalty to the “great leader Kim Jong-Un.”
In July, it hosted a video featuring Lim Ji-Hyun, a female defector in her 20s who arrived in Seoul in 2014 and soon became a public figure, before apparently returning to the North from the “hell” of the capitalist South.
Uriminzokkiri’s social media accounts remained active Saturday.
North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test a week ago, saying it was a hydrogen bomb that could be fitted onto a missile — prompting global condemnation and calls for further sanctions.
In July, it tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that appeared to bring much of the mainland US into range.
The US has formally requested a UN Security Council vote on Monday on tough new sanctions against North Korea despite resistance from China and Russia.
It is not the first time that YouTube has targeted North Korean propaganda.
In November 2016, the video sharing platform closed down state-owned Korean Central TV1. Several other channels including Chosun TV, NK Propaganda and KCTV Stream were also cut off, according to NK News.
YouTube shuts down North Korea propaganda account
YouTube shuts down North Korea propaganda account
Meta to charge Arab advertisers extra fee for reaching European audiences
- US tech giant told advertisers it will add fees ranging from 2 to 5 percent on image and video ads delivered on its platforms to offset digital service taxes
- Charges are determined by where the audience is located, not where the advertiser is based
LONDON: Meta will from July 1 impose location-based surcharges on advertisers targeting audiences in six European countries, a move that will directly affect Arab businesses that run campaigns across the continent.
The US tech giant announced it will add fees ranging from 2 to 5 percent on image and video ads delivered on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, to offset digital service taxes imposed by individual governments.
Crucially, the charges are determined by where the audience is located, not where the advertiser is based.
That means Saudi, Emirati, Egyptian or other Arab companies paying to reach consumers in the UK, France or Italy will face the additional costs regardless of their own country’s tax arrangements with Meta.
Fees will apply at 2 percent for ads reaching UK audiences, 3 percent for France, Italy and Spain, and 5 percent for Austria and Turkiye.
“If you deliver $100 in ads to Italy, where there is a 3% location fee, you will be charged $100 (ad delivery), plus $3 (location fee), for $103 total,” the company wrote in an email to an advertiser initially reported by Bloomberg. “Note that any applicable VAT will be calculated on top of the total amount.”
The taxes have been introduced at different points, starting with France in 2019, though not the EU as a bloc.
Many tech companies report substantial sales in Europe and millions of users but pay minimal tax on profits. The goal is to claw back locally derived economic value, Bloomberg reported.
The move follows similar decisions by Google and Amazon, which have also begun passing European digital tax costs on to advertisers.
For Arab brands with growing European footprints, particularly in fashion, travel, hospitality and media, the new fees add another layer of cost to campaigns already subject to currency and targeting complexities.
Digital services taxes, levied as a percentage of revenues earned by major tech platforms in individual countries, have drawn criticism from Washington, which argues they unfairly target US companies.
Meta has been reached for comments.
