Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09RIODEJANEIRO162
2009-06-25 19:51:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Rio De Janeiro
Cable title:  

Media Reaction, Digital Duel (in Iran)

Tags:  KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD XM XR BR 
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TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD XM XR BR
SUBJECT: Media Reaction, Digital Duel (in Iran)

Digital Duel
On June 25, 2009, center-right daily O Globo writes, "In spite of
the Iranian government's best efforts to conceal the dimension of
the protests going on in that country, a 40-second video shot by
cellular phone transformed Neda Agha-Soltan into the icon of the
'Green Revolution.' The person who bypassed the digital firewalls
was a blogger who identified himself only as 'Hamid.' A friend of
his made the video of Neda's agony, as she was shot by Basij
militia. Hamid sent the video to CNN, BBC, YouTube and the social
networking site Facebook. Quickly, the youth's death shocked the
world.

An arsenal of new electronic resources makes life more difficult for
authoritarian regimes. But the same technology that helps those who
struggle for democracy is also available for those who wish to
uphold absolutist theocracies, such as that of Tehran, and almighty
political parties, such as the one in Beijing. The Berkman Center at
Harvard estimates that there are over thirty governments that
control their citizens' access to the web. One of the most obstinate
is Iran. According to the Wall Street Journal, the regime makes use
of a sophisticated mechanism that allows it to not only block
messages, but also to capture information about the people sending
the messages, and even alter the content of these messages-a way of
planting misinformation. Authoritarian regimes' fight against
freedom of expression has evolved along with technology. Before the
fall of the Berlin Wall, West German police ripped out television
antennas that received channels from East Germany. In 1989, the
Iranian ayatollahs themselves declared war on parabolic antennae.
China has a battalion of an estimated 60,000 censors to determine
what citizens can or cannot access on the internet, aided by
software known as the 'The Great Firewall,' a wordplay on 'The Great
Wall.' Much of what we know about what happens in Iran is due to
technology developed in the USA by members of the spiritual group
Falun Gong, who have been persecuted in China since 1999. The
software is being passed on to Iranian dissident leaders.

Nicholas Kristof, columnist for the New York Times, summed up the
digital battle: 'The equivalent of the Berlin Wall in the 21st
century is a cyber-wall, and we can help to tear it down.' One hopes
that this will start to happen in Cuba. Obama's good-will package
to Cubans included authorization for American businesses to offer
cellular, television, and radio services to Cubans. The question to
be answered is who will be the most efficient user of these new
technologies: movements in support of freedom or supporters of
authoritarian regimes?"

MARTINEZ