North Korea declares war on Facebook with clone rip-off
North Korea may be most familiar for its use of bellicose rhetoric, nuclear missile tests and grinding poverty but that hasn’t stopped the hermit kingdom from pursuing its own social media strategy.
And what better way to go about that than ripping off the world’s number one social media site, Facebook.
News of the approach first emerged when a clone of the popular platform briefly appeared on the StarCon.net.kp address, mimicking the look and features of its Californian rival.
Upon its discovery by Doug Madory of network management firm Dyn, some 300 people rushed to set up accounts disparaging North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un before StarCon pulled the plug on the venture.
Dyn remarked: “There were a lot of people signing up that, based on their comments, appeared to genuinely think they could reach the North Korean people through the website.
"I'm quite sure that no North Koreans ever really used it for a social network website despite the fact that it was hosted in North Korea."
Internet access is strictly regulated in the totalitarian state, limiting the demand for websites and social features.