Melissa Chungfat

AP Photo/Ben Curtis

The images and Tweets inside Iran are riveting.

I didn’t follow much of what was happening after the election in Iran on June 12 until many media outlets, especially online, were covering the sea of people on the streets. Persistent solidarity quickly developed after people spoke out against the election results.

In case you haven’t been following this story, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed presidential victory over Mir Hossein Mousavi soon after the polls closed. Mousavi accused Ahmadinejad of fraud. The interior ministry announced that Ahmadinejad won with 63% of the vote while Mousavi won 34%. Voter turnout was a record 85%.

(Psst . . . our  last federal election in Canada had a measly 58.8%. And we didn’t even have to risk our lives.)

Mousavi’s supporters immediately protested the results and many demanded that their vote be counted.

While most people use social media to post drunken pictures of their friends and document other regrettable moments, these online tools have great power in enabling people to hold powerful institutions accountable. Live blogging, Tweets, and YouTube videos from Iran have engaged countless people around the world and incited a global solidarity for the people in Iran.

The most authoritarian regimes in the world, including China, ban a variety of communication because they understand its power. Being able to connect with people around the world reduces a group’s chances of getting away with human rights abuses and corruption.

But there is business to be done of course.  Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google bowed down to China’s demands to censor websites, including search terms like “human rights” and “Dalai Lama.”

Knowledge is power.

Similarly, the Iranian authorities have banned foreign media and networks are now relying on social media content for updates. CBC profiled an Iranian woman who lives in Vancouver. Her family is still in Iran and she is their only source of information because the government took away their satellites. Iran made several attempts to block communications including:

• Blocking access to many websites inside the country, including social-networking sites, even before the June 12 vote (Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty)
• Blocking access to Facebook temporarily across the country on May 23, 2009 in response to the use of Facebook by candidates running against Ahmadinejad (Egypt News)
• Ordering the Revolutionary Guards,  Iran’s most powerful military force, to warn online media of a crackdown on their coverage of the country’s election crisis (London Evening Standard).
• Disrupting satellite connections

Many Tweeting citizens are at risk if they are caught by authorities. Yet, despite these attempts to block communications, Twitter prevails.

These are some of many sources that outline what happened during the elections and current events in Iran. If you have other reliable sources, please share.

The world is watching. Literally.

Sources

• Timeline of Iran election turmoil (BBC)
• Iran Updates (VIDEO): Live Blogging The Uprising
• Iran Election Crisis: 10 Incredible YouTube Videos
• HOW TO: Track Iran Election on Twitter and Social Media
  
• Us Now: A film project about the power of mass collaboration, government and the internet
• Citizen Lab 4.0