Iran Continues to Censor Internet Communications

eldawg writes "Iran has recently been in the news after electing a 'hardliner' president. But even previous 'liberal' Iranian governments have been putting together a sophisticated Internet filtering system to prevent their citizens from visiting 'questionable' websites and censoring dissent. An earlier posting at Slashdot outlined the crackdown on blogs, chat rooms and email communications. A more recent research paper from the OpenNet Initiative provides an update on the censoring activity in Iran. Reports indicate that the Iranian authorities are specifically targetting 'content in the local Farsi language using a filterning second only to China.' We know Cisco has played a large role in bulding the 'Great Firewall of China' but is the Iranian initiative homegrown?"

Comments

Parent example of anti-US relativism

[swb]

It's not that there aren't valid things the U.S. government does that are, broadly, "anti-freedom". But drawing a parallel between eminent domain and the actions of a totalitarian theocracy (despite it's elections, Iran remains dominated by the Revolutionary Guard and its supreme religious leader) and saying "The US is just as bad" is foolish and naive.

Sure, the U.S. government (or, more precisely, a small number of members of the U.S. government) are, time and again, doing something stupid that isn't what you'd expect of a free country, and the examples go back to the founding of the country (counting slaves as 2/3 of a person, etc). Things like Jim Crowe, Viet Nam, Watergate, Iran/Contra, etc etc.

But almost without exception these events are noted in the press, analyzed, criticized, written about by thousands in letters to the editor, protested in the street and very often -- tada -- CHANGED. Civil rights act, voting rights act, Nixon's impeachment, Iran/Contra hearings. And no secret police organization decended on private citizens and beat them, impisoned or tortured them for having an opinion contrary to the government or its policies.

Are we perfect? No way. Are we more free than just about any other place? Absolutely. Will we continue to make missteps from time to time? Sure. Human nature isn't always pretty.

You can be a pessimist and argue that evidence points to a declining level of freedom and government accountability. Maybe. But that hardly means that we're even comperable to North Korea, Iran, Syria, or any of a number of other totalitarian/dicatorial/theocratic societies.

Re:Ain't nuthin' propa about your propaganda!

[suitepotato]

Don't get me wrong, there are tons of liberal wacko's too, but they're more about giving you more freedom to do what you want rather than forcing you to obey their views.

Exactly the opposite is true. Leftists always proceed from a POV that they are more intelligent, enlightened, caring, warm, etc., than others and thus their ideas can, should, and must be followed or else you are a know-nothing imbecile who needs to be controlled for the good of society and yourself. They are the only ones who know what is going on and everyone else is stupid.

They even feel free to engage in massive sneering religious intolerance, smearing Christians, treating religious Jews with condescention, and knocking aside peaceful Muslims in order to hold up radicals and terrorists as "authentic". They quite often proceed right past arrogance to "holy effrontery" without noticing how absurd they look.

It wasn't conservatives who invented political correctness. At worst conservatives are given to annoying passive "everyone can survive or fail on their own with no help whatsoever" neglect. I say worst because the fiery ones are obviously laughable and despite portrayal by liberals to the contrary, have no real influence. Liberals more often embrace an arrogant refusal to accept anyone not bowing before their views and worshipping the ground they walk on and fight like mad to get their way no matter what the cost to others, as long as they win and their ideas are enshrined.

Seems like the kind of mindset I see among Linux zealots who sputter and foam in befuddlement that the masses didn't listen to them five or more years ago and adopt Linux and put Microsoft out of business. Just to give it understanding for the /. overzealous. "But we're the techies and you should listen to us, because we know!"

BTW, since when is it not hypocrisy to decry bigotry on one side, yet practice it freely on the other? Anti-Christian rhetoric on this board is fairly free flowing and thick and utterly without redeeming value. It has no proper place here. But like the rest of the incessant "we're smarter than you" leftist weenie nonsense, it seems to be part and parcel of the stereotype. It needs to stop, really. Or we can have these political discussions ad nauseum.