linkdump: more updates in regards to the Iran protests

[foxtongue]

• Reddit, via Fark- A very comprehensive breakdown of the last few days, as well as definitions of many new terms you will be seeing and the roles of key figures.
• Voting turnouts of more than 100% were recorded in at least 30 Iranian towns.
• A list of English language news sources in regards to the Iranian election and aftermath as compiled by an Iranian political blogger, Cyrus Farivar.
• Andrew Sullivan is posting very regularly with articles, videos, and first hand accounts- including this news report from the BBC, one of only a few that are making out of the country, and a list of choice tweets from within Iran. The list updates sporadically, so keep it open in one of your tabs.
• Speaking of twitter- it is being used as a primary source for news from within Iran, as most journalists are trapped or being shipped out. It has become such a resource that the US State Department requested Twitter to delay it's scheduled maintenance. Here is a list of English tweets from within Iran- sorted by city.
• Show support for democracy in Iran add green overlay to your Twitter avatar with one click. (Please note that this change is permanent until you change your avatar back).
• Clay Shirky spoke at TED earlier in the year about how easy-to-use social networks like twitter and facebook have changed the nature of news and the media. Given the circumstances, the folks at TED decided to fast track the talk to the web along with an interview with Shirky about what's happening in Iran.
• New legislation has been proposed in Iran that could make blogging a crime punishable by death.
• Nico Pitney is liveblogging via the Huffington Post. Regular updates with relevant articles, videos, and links to first-hand accounts translated from Farsi and Persian.
• Pirate Bay is now The Persian Bay, and has gone green to show support. A lot of people are hoping that Google will do the same soon.
• A great article from the New York Times containing links to videos, photos, and a flickr feed.
• Boston Big Picture has photos from the first few days of unrest.
• A twitpic of today's incredible march.
• The most widely distributed photo of a pro-Ahmadinejad rally appears to have been clone-tool enhanced.

From Mike:

If you have loved ones in Iran, my thoughts are with you and yours. I've been stuck to the Twitter feeds for a while now, and I'm worried for people.

But I'm also encouraged. Tactics like the Iranian government's would have worked just fine 20 years ago. (Chile comes to mind.) Locking down the networks and cutting off the professional journalists would have had the effect that they intend - without the world watching, the worst of the protestors could be dealt with ruthlessly, and the rest intimidated into submission. But not now. Using one pesky little network protocol, the people on the ground in this insurgency have managed to circumvent the information wall, and force their way into the public eye.

The government's response now will have to be carefully measured against this unprecedented new level of visibility. They will have to quell the protests peacefully somehow, or else they'll have to resort to acts of mass violence on YouTube.
(note: Violence has already happened in many places.)

If you want to chip in your network resources for this underground news conduit, they could sure use your help. All the major IM networks are now blocked for Iranian users, as well as services like Blogger and Twitter. Getting news, photos and footage out through this network is risky business for the people providing them, and there is a frantic cat-and-mouse proxy server game going on between the censors and the bloggers. You can put your own machine to work in this infowar, and better their chances of evading capture.

First, rock a Twitter account, and make it look Iranian. GMT+3:30. (Think, 'I'm Spartacus.') Cruise over here and learn how to set up a proxy server on your machine. Once you've done that, DO NOT TWEET ABOUT IT IN PUBLIC. The censors are watching Twitter closely, and the moment they see someone post a new proxy for Iran, it goes on the block list and becomes useless. Instead, send it privately to @stopAhmadi or @iran09 and they'll distribute it discreetly to bloggers.

This is the first time that tools like this have been used on this scale. Here's hoping that Twitter can give us a new and ubiquitous form of political accountability. All eyes are on Ahmadinejad, and I sure hope he can feel them.

Comments

[fluffymcdeath.livejournal.com]

"- without the world watching, the worst of the protestors could be dealt with ruthlessly, and the rest intimidated into submission. But not now."

Maybe in Tiananmen Square in 1989 with only journalists present, but certainly not now with the internet like in Burma in late 2007. Oh wait. Bad example.

So lets keep stirring the pot and we won't let it be like Burma because if the military start crushing the protests we'll ... what? Invade? So we can kill Persians instead of letting Persians kill Persians?

Still, the action is begun, it has to play out now one way or the other. Nothing invites authoritarian rule quite like civil unrest no matter which side wins.

[fluffymcdeath.livejournal.com]

By the way, yes, I do care about the people, unlike those who would use them and put them in harms way to increase their own power.

I also worry about the people of Gaza who always seem to suffer when the world has something to distract its attention.

[fluffymcdeath.livejournal.com]

Clone tool enhancement is very similar to that used during Iraq to make the pro-American crowds bigger - only they had to clone the foreground crowd. Ha ha. Still, the photo shenanigans only demonstrate how much propaganda is out there. Check this photo in the LA times to this one from the BBC. (Yes, I know those are just captures. I saw them earlier when they were live and these look the way I remember).

It's the same crowd. It seems the headlines may be a bit misleading. Also, the US military has an internet intelligence force, as does the NSA. The people you think you know, you may not know. When you are told to only trust certain sources, immediately distrust them. Monitor ALL sources else you are letting someone make you "voluntarily" censor yourself.

[evinumen.livejournal.com]

thank you for this! I posted a link to it in my lj.

[themythicalman.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info. At this point, it must be difficult to sift through it all and determine what's actually happening, as I understand the Iranian authorities are also using Twitter etc. to spread "information".

I remember watching the Tiananmen Square protests so many years ago, thinking that I was watching the beginning of something new, an incredible people's movement; I also remember the disappointment that I felt watching the authorities crack down. I'm hoping that the same scenario doesn't play out in Iran. All the best to anybody with friends and/or family in the area. Stay safe.

[droops.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you were doing this too. For awhile I thought I was about the only person blogging about this.