In his Problems of War and Strategy, Mao Tse-Tung said that “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” While that statement might have been true in 1938, in today's rapidly-changing, high-tech world, it would appear that Political power grows out of a tweet.
In the aftermath of Friday's (June 12, 2009) disputed Iranian presidential election, the Iranian government, under the leadership of "President" Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has crackeddown on the media and the internet in an attempt to censor coverage of the ongoing Green Uprising lead by supporters of opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi . However, tech-savvy Americans and American companies, such as the San Francisco based Twitter, are lending their support to the protesters so that their voices will be heard around the world.
In their article, "Social Networks Spread Defiance Online" (June 15, 2009), New York Times correspondents, Brad Stone and Noam Cohen, report that, "Iranians are blogging, posting to Facebook and, most visibly, coordinating their protests on Twitter, the messaging service. Their activity has increased, not decreased, since the presidential election on Friday and ensuing attempts by the government to restrict or censor their online communications."
I think it is great that technology is helping the people of Iran in their struggle for fair elections and I am proud of the Americans who are helping them in this struggle. What do you think?
For additional information see the following articles:
The Telegraph: “Iran protest news travels fast and far on Twitter.”
The Wall Street Journal: Iran Cracks Down on Internet Use, Foreign Media
Viva la revolution!
10 comments:
I haven't really been following the Iran election, but I listen to NPR and I can't help hearing about it. It is great the Americans and American companies are able to help bring a voice to the Iranian people. When I read the article, I noticed that Twitter delayed a shutdown for updates to keep the news rolling. I am not a big fan of Twitter, but their activism is helping be believe in the power of Twitter.
Isn't it amazing how something that some politicians want to limit access to is helping a nation inform others about their struggles, thoughts and needs. I have not used Twitter but I am glad that this type of social networking is available to these people.
I also wrote about this in my blog this week! I read a different article, and it said that reports by Iranian Internet users had been slowing down recently, but I hope your article is correct in saying the opposite. Yes, I am proud of everyone involved.
I blogged about this as well this week... Also had different sources, but they also said that communications had increased not decreased despite the imposed media blackout. A new kind of protest/revolution is in the making. The truth has come out despite the attempts to squash it!
Michael,
This is a great development that Twitter has given the Iranian people a way to protest the election results. Let us hope that this will help them to have this election a second time. Roger Barnes
Gosh-- if this doesn't demonstrate the power of the written word, I don't know what does. I think it is amazing that the Iranian government had the nerve to block websites prior to the election, and I can't believe this is happening after.
I think this also proves to many Americans that Iran is comprised of many different types of people with many different opinions. I think it is very easy to see a few pictures and read some news articles and wrongly think we have nothing in common. This past week shows that humans--- not just Americans--- value the right to vote and the right to be heard.
Tweeters of the world unite!!! I think its great that a was was found to voice opinion when the government sought to silence them. Way for them to use theiir resources.
Twitter catches a lot of flack, but this shows that it is more than a way for someone to tell people what they had for breakfast.
I am so glad you broght this up! I can not believe the how Twitter has become the biggest tool of the revolution! I think it is great but my one concern is that news outlet are citing Twitter and it is almost impossible to verify.
Tweet On!
Sadly, I don't follow these kind of things. However, every where I've turned this past week, I can't help but here about it. I am not a fan of Twitter, but have grown to respect it more since this so called election occured. It saddens me and amazes me at the same time that someone thought they could get away with this and no one be the wise in this day and age.
In addition to FB and twitter, I looked at another of the web 2.0 tools, Flickr, so see another first-person perspective of the election/protests from actual people, instead of only the media. Check out Flickr for some interesting pics from the last 10 days.
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