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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Mullahs Clueless as Iranian Internet Spreads Out of Control in Iran |
| 2004-03-02 |
| The mullahs ... are fighting a losing battle to keep dissident websites in check. Myriad Farsi-language websites have sprung up with news and opinions that question the clerical government of Iran. For every site the government shuts down, ten more emerge in their place. Emrooz manages to operate despite having their editors arrested and jailed. There are now between 20 and 30 major political websites active in Iran, most of them being pro-reformist. There are also roughly 20,000 Iranian blog sites and between 50 and 60 have become widely read for their reformist political content. Much to the chagrin of the government, these types of politically oriented sites are growing. Official estimates place the number of Internet users in Iran anywhere from 2.5 million to 4 million. To satisfy the web surfers, Tehran alone has approximately 1,500 Internet cafes.... Popular sites in Iran include Gooya, a directory of links that includes news and links to Persian-language news sites, chat rooms, music and shopping pages. The Iranian Students News Agency, created four years ago as an alternative to state-run news, has also garnered a large following. These Internet chat rooms, libraries, blog sites, link directories, and news-gathering organizations are an integral part of the civil society today in Iran. .... The U.S. government has recognized this trend and is playing its part to help. In August 2003, the U.S. Office of Global Internet Freedom agreed to sponsor a web proxy service for Iranian web surfers created by an electronic privacy software company called Anonymizer Inc. The service gives instructions in Farsi and allows Iranians to visit any website without being traced. |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |