Iranians struggle with Internet disruptions ahead of the June 14 elections.
An Iranian girl surfs the web in an internet cafe in Tehran, Iran, 28 April 2013.
On Thursday, May 23 at 19:30 GMT:
Is Iran going offline ahead of its upcoming election? Iranian web users are reporting slow Internet speeds, difficulties accessing email, and faulty Virtual Private Networks. The government confirmed slow speeds but denied it has to do with the June 14 election. Critics, however, say the Internet crackdown is all about preventing the recurrence of the 2009 protests. So, how will Internet disturbances and social media surveillance impact Iran’s election?
In this episode of The Stream, we speak to:
Gissou Nia @GissouNia
Executive Director, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center
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Slow internet speeds have made it difficult for many of Iran’s 45 million internet users to access e-mail, proxy servers, and other anti-filtering software. The photo below shows the screen users see when they try to access blocked sites.
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Many netizens voiced displeasure:
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Starting the day by writing my commitments. One of them is to open my Gmail, coz, it takes about 30 mins in #Iran to open it
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I finally synced 27kb file on github after 1h waiting! Thanks alot Mr Momen Nassab! #filternet #iran
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#iranelection #filternet joke: ‘Connecting to Internet in Iran’ should be added to list of World’s Hardest Jobs, below ‘Mining’.
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“Halal Internet” – Internet Enters ‘Coma’ in Iran – Ahead of Presidential Electiongoo.gl/4NsPT #IBApasto http://pic.twitter.com/xrY67pNtmI -
While authorities acknowledge the slowdown, they deny this has anything to do with the upcoming election. Iran’s Deputy Communications and Technology Minister said it is due to plans to renovate internet service. Critics, however, say the slowdown is meant to prevent a repeat of the 2009 election protests.
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Al Jazeera’s People & Power covered the protests in the following documentary:
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The following infographic shows how Iranians use the web and social media, which played an important role in organising the 2009 protests.
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131 journalists and bloggers were arrested for “cyber crimes” after the 2009 Green Movement protests.
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The following video, by the Committee to Protect Journalists, shows the increase in government crackdown on Iranian journalists:
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There are more than 2,600 ”prisoners of conscience” in Iran, according to research by The Guardian. The screenshot below is from The Guardian’s interactive guide to 870 of those currently imprisoned in the country.
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Journalist Maziar Bahari, maker of the film “Forced Confessions“, was arrested during the 2009 protests and detained for 118 days. The Streamed asked him the following: What were the methods of intimidation and interrogation used against you by authorities?Source:
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Einsortiert unter:Empfehlungen, Gesetze, Interview, Iran Election 2013, Medien, Meinungen, Politik Tagged: Ali Khamenei, Chamenei, Election 2013, Gefängnis, Gesetze, Human Rights, Iran, Medien, Menschenrechte, Politik, Social media, Tehran, Virtual private network
