It’s time to confront technology companies in the West on the role they play in censorship worldwide, says Claire Ulrich
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Crossposted from the OpenNet Initiative
Last week, as Iranian voters went to the polls to elect the country’s next president, the Iranian government blocked access to number of political Web sites, as well as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
Yesterday the OpenNet Initiative profiled the extent of this crackdown. Today we are releasing a new survey of Internet filtering and online content controls in Iran, which details the most recent instances of censorship and provides a basic framework for understanding the legal, technical and institutional mechanisms of filtering in Iran.
“I believe that a recount of the votes under the current conditions won’t solve anything. A new election must be held and this time it should be under the monitoring of international organizations so that all participants would be contented that the votes that come out of the ballot boxes are the real votes of the people.”
Read the rest here
Pajamas media has published a translation of a “seven-point manifesto” circulating amongst protesters in Iran. It calls for:
1. Stripping Ayatollah Khamenei of his supreme leadership position because of his unfairness. Fairness is a requirement of a supreme leader.
2. Stripping Ahmadinejad of the presidency, due to his unlawful act of maintaining the position illegally.
3. Transferring temporary supreme leadership position to Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazery until the formation of a committee to reevaluate and adjust Iran’s constitution.
4. Recognizing Mir Hossein Mousavi as the rightfully elected president of the people.
5. Formation of a new government by President Mousavi and preparation for the implementation of new constitutional amendments.
6. Unconditional release of all political prisoners regardless of ideology or party platform.
7. Dissolution of all organizations — both secret and public — designed for the oppression of the Iranian people, such as the Gasht Ershad [Iranian morality police].
Hat-tip: Pajamas Media