North Korea and Russia pledged to work together on regulating the global internet and artificial intelligence during a recent summit, signaling that two of the world’s most tightly controlled information regimes will further crackdown on online freedoms.

The new bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership treaty signed by Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang last month emphasizes the two countries’ intent to form a new “international information security system” and promote all states’ equal rights in “managing the internet.”

In particular, the agreement targets “the misuse of information and communication technology to tarnish the