Bloggers still active in Iran despite crackdown on cyberspace
Washington, May 13, 2008 (IranVNC)—The number of Internet users in Iran increased 29 times in 2000-2005. But, according to the Open Net Initiative country report, Iran is now second to China in cracking down on cyberspace. That, however, did not stop bloggers in Iran from telling their stories.
16.20 GMT-12:20 PM/EST Iran experienced the biggest boom in Internet growth throughout the Middle East, according to the Open Net Initiative country report [The number of Internet users increased 29 times between 2000 and 2005]. But, second to China, Iran has exercised the widest crackdown on cyberspace. Government regulations now demand websites and weblogs to be registered, filtered, and in many cases banned without explanation… weblogs such as Farnaz Seify’s:
Farnaz Seify, popular Iranian blogger: “This is my famous blog, which was blocked six months ago by the judiciary and other authorities. I don’t know why. I don’t write about political issues. I am careful, but perhaps because of the hits it receives… I tell you blogosphere is not a safe place. There have been cases in which the government had arrested some bloggers.”
Despite that and the government restricting the speed of Internet connection to 128 kilobytes per second so Iranians wouldn’t be able to download foreign music, films or TV programs, bloggers have been very active inside Iran [GFX: In the West, Internet speed connection is above 700 kb].
Seify: “It is a popular concept, especially for youths. It is a good way to practice democracy. You see the very readers who are against you and you talk with them.”
But the Ministries of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Justice and Information do not want people to criticize the Supreme Leader, religious figures, Islamic laws, or discuss sexual matters [GFX: The government significantly blocks content related to homosexuality, pornography, Persian-language news sites, and opposition political sites].
On March 1, 2007, a new law required weblogs and websites to register their detailed contact and web content information. This makes it easier for the government to monitor, filter and monthly block nearly one-thousand weblogs.
The Cyber Crimes Bill of 2006 also makes the country’s seven Internet Service Providers criminally liable for the content they carry, including email. If they do not abide by government and filtering regulations, they could be temporarily suspended [GFX: The government, however, does not seem to heavily filter content involving drugs, alcohol, gambling or dating].
Despite such heavy control of cyberspace, 7.2 million Iranians remain hooked on the Internet and nearly 400,000 Persian blogs are still live.
Some websites outside Iran keep track of these Iranian blogs, capturing the true stories and views of the Iranian people.
The new multimedia news website Iran VNC’s Blog Watch constantly monitors Iranian blogs, voicing views like these:
Maysam writes on freedoms in his “The Other” blog: “President Ahmadinejad at Columbia University spoke so much about the freedoms and rights enjoyed by the people in Iran that I wished I lived there too.”
Babak Malekzadeh writes on the nuclear issue: “We don’t have lunch or dinner; we just eat yellow cake instead.”
Iran VNC archives them, in cooperation with Stanford University and the Library of Congress, and then posts their URL here:
In the future, particularly as Iran’s parliament is poised to sign into law the Cyber Crimes Bill, this Blog Watch will be a unique resource capturing for the world the pulse of Iranian culture and people.
