Iranian strongmen freaked by … bloggers
: Hoder reports that a hardline Iranian paper has gone after bloggers, accusing them of being a — you guessed it — CIA plot. Disturbingly, it names names.
What are the implications? First, it proves, at least to me, that our recent protest has been so effective that have made them react this desperately and harshly. Second, it shows the fact that hardliner conservatives see Internet as a threat to their interests and therefore act against it, proves it as a potentially powerful medium for promoting democracy and freedom of expression which deserves more attention from the Western countries and media. Third, it displays that the number of internet users in Iran (between 5 to 7 million) is big enough to worry conservatives about its influence. So they probably start policies that limit access the users to Internet and in this regard, Shaare 2 project, gets a whole new meaning.
Personally I’m so happy to see the effort I begun 4,5 years ago in Asr-e Azadegan paper by starting a daily column introducing Internet to journalists and average Iranians have been so fruitful. The miraculous technology of internet enables individuals do things that would have required big political organizations a few years ago.
Spread the word.
