Paramount+

Paramount+ Censorship in China and North Korea: Technical Blocks and Workarounds

What Paramount+ Is

Paramount+ is a subscription video-on-demand service launched in March 2021 by Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS), a US-based media conglomerate. The platform hosts films, television series, and original content from Paramount's extensive library, including CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, and Showtime properties. As of 2024, Paramount+ operates in over 60 countries and maintains roughly 70 million global subscribers. The service competes directly with Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video in most markets where it operates.

Why It's Censored

Paramount+ faces outright blocking or severe restriction in two primary territories: China and North Korea. These restrictions stem from fundamentally different regulatory contexts.

In China, content restrictions are enforced under the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) guidelines and the broader internet governance framework established by the Communist Party. The CAC does not explicitly ban Paramount+ by name; instead, it blocks or throttles foreign streaming services that do not have local partnerships and content oversight approval. Paramount+ lacks a licensed Chinese subsidiary and does not submit content for pre-approval review as required under Chinese broadcasting regulations. Additionally, the service carries Western entertainment deemed politically or culturally incompatible—including content addressing democratic freedoms, LGBTQ+ themes, and non-state-approved narratives—making it a low-priority target for conditional licensing.

North Korea's blockade is absolute. The country maintains one of the world's most restricted internet environments. The state controls all domestic internet infrastructure through the Korea Computer Center, and foreign streaming services are flatly prohibited. Paramount+, like virtually all non-state media platforms, is technically inaccessible to the general population; access is limited to a narrow elite and state-monitored institutions. The legal basis is the state's monopoly over information distribution under the Rodong Sinmun (official party doctrine) framework.

Technical Blocking Methods

China employs multiple, layered blocking mechanisms:

IP-level blocking prevents direct connections to Paramount+ servers identified by geographic origin. DNS filtering intercepts domain resolution for paramount.com and related subdomains, returning null responses or redirects. Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) monitors encrypted traffic patterns and identifies HTTPS streams consistent with video-on-demand services, deprioritizing or terminating such connections. These techniques operate within China's "Great Firewall" infrastructure and are not uniformly applied—blocking intensity fluctuates with policy cycles.

North Korea's blocking is simpler in execution but total in scope: the state permits no external internet routing except through monitored gateways. International domain names resolve to state-controlled proxies or fail entirely. No technical workaround is feasible for most residents due to surveillance and the absence of uncensored exit points.

User Workarounds

In China, technically proficient users employ tunneling protocols—typically HTTPS proxies, SSH tunnels, or Virtual Private Networks configured with obfuscation—to route traffic through servers outside the country. These tools mask destination IP addresses and encrypt traffic headers to evade DPI inspection. ISPs periodically increase blocking of known proxy infrastructure, forcing users to adopt newer or less-documented tunneling methods. Success rates vary by region and ISP within China.

North Korea has no practical workaround for ordinary citizens. Foreigners and authorized officials may access Paramount+ through embassy networks or special authorization channels.

Alternatives

Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are similarly blocked in China through identical mechanisms and face comparable regulatory rejection. Disney+ is blocked in China but has pursued—unsuccessfully—a licensed partnership model. In regions where Paramount+ is unavailable, users typically rely on locally licensed streaming platforms: iQIYI and Tencent Video in China, for instance, though these services operate under state content guidelines.

Outlook

Restrictions on Paramount+ are not easing. China's internet governance has tightened since 2020, with the CAC enforcing stricter content standards and deepening technical blocking infrastructure. North Korea's isolation remains absolute with no indication of policy shift. For users in these territories, access will continue to require either circumvention tools or relocation.