by Rachel Palmieri

Created on: June 23, 2009   Last Updated: July 04, 2009

The widespread global popularity of internet networking sites has catapulted the social impact of these sites far beyond the original creator's intent. The Iranian protest movement uses these simple networking tools as the major arm of communication among its followers. This kind of instant rally communication is a watershed of a contemporary mode of communication and thus makes censorship futile.

The national free elections in Iran were held on June 12th, 2009 were apparently not so free. The re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparked instant speculation among supporters of the opposition party. Amide rumors of a rigged election, the Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran's official news agency, proclaimed that with two-thirds of the votes counted, incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won the election with 66% of the votes cast, and that Mir-Hossein Mousavi had received 33% of the votes cast. The European Union and several western countries expressed concern over alleged irregularities during the vote, and some analysts and journalists from United States and Europe based media voiced doubts about the authenticity of the results. Protests rallies flooded the streets of Tehran.

Protest rallies are not a new political concept. Neither are state attempts to censor coverage of such rallies. What's new is the Internet's impressive role in circumventing any state censorship. The Internet's liquidity has rendered those attempts to withhold information useless, trite and plainly idiotic. Iran's attempts to stifle public news reports and media were brutal and obvious. A Italian translator was beaten and his news tapes confiscated. The BBC accused Iranian government of jamming their broadcast signal. Facebook, Twitter & Youtube were banned and blocked from Iranian terminals. But unlike field reports who can be physically shipped home with their video ruined; the internet is intangible communication. Those hosting the websites either can't be located of are half a world away far out of state supported militia arm's reach. The mobility of the technology is astounding. As Iranian officials bans one twitter account, four more surface. There is as they say, more than one way to skin a cat. Connecting to the internet is no exception to this rule. Use of free software, such as Tor, that creates complex ways of connecting to the Internet in an attempt to create anonymity has doubled in use in recent weeks. Proxy servers act as a go-between to camouflage users.

A particularly telling quote from CNN's Christiane Amanpour, who left Iran for London on the Tuesday after the election The process of getting the word out is totally democratized. If the Iranian opposition can not have its voice heard through voting, its voice will ring clearly though the global internet.

Cited:

"Ahmadinejad 'set for Iran victory'". Al Jazeera English. 13 June 2009. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/06 /2009612195749149733.html. Retrieved on 13 June 2009. ""Doctor Ahmadinejad, by getting a majority of the votes, has become the definite winner of the 10th presidential election," the news agency said."

"Official: Obama Administration Skeptical of Iran's Election Results". Fox News. 2009-06-13. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/13/official- obama-administration-skeptical-irans-election-result s/. Retrieved on 2009-06-13.

Colin Freeman; David Blair (2009-06-14). "Defeated Iranian reformist Mir-Hossein Mousavi calls for more protest against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast /iran/5533782/Defeated-Iranian-reformist-Mir-Hossein -Mousavi-calls-for-more-protest-against-Mahmoud-Ahma dinejad.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-14.

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