Moldova, Guatemala, Fiji, Madagascar... Iran.
If ever there was a year that crystallized the power of technology in the hands of average people to disseminate news and force transparency in the face of political suppression, corruption and violence, this is it.
It has been one week since 40 million people in the Islamic Republic of Iran went to the polls to cast ballots in Iran's controversial 10th Presidential election.
Last week, as the early results of the Iranian elections were reported, I emailed two old and distant acquaintances, young Iranian students I had blogged about over two years ago after meeting at a rooftop party in New Delhi. During our conversation in India, the students had suggested to me that there was continued frustration with the limits on political freedom in Iran, and, in their words, "that the current regime [would] have to open up the political process or face very serious popular unrest within the next five to ten years."
Last Friday night, one of those students, a computer scientist now back in Iran, quickly responded to my email with the following:
"Now it's 2:42 AM here in Tehran when I'm writing these lines for you.
As per the state television's live broadcasting from 19 million counted
votes Ahmadinejad is leading by 67% and Mousavi is second after him by
30%...Nobody
knows if there is a conspiracy going on, but this result (if continued)
is not going to be accepted by majority of people.
Stay in touch."
Over the last seven days I have watched from my computer and on my blackberry, videos of hundreds of thousands of young enthusiastic Iranians, marching through the streets of Tehran and risking their reputations and safety in order to demand that their voices be heard and that their votes be counted.
As a student of middle east politics, and an uncompromising believer in the power of democracy, freedom of speech, and technology, this is one of the most inspirational things I have ever witnessed. It may not be Tienanmen, but in the middle east, it is indeed something altogether different, and potentially more powerful.
Just as important as the protesters' actions themselves, however, has been the ability of people around the world to witness these events despite extensive limits on the traditional media by Iranian government officials and violent attempts by government-backed forces to prevent any reporting at all.
In spite of this, or maybe, because of it, we have been privy to a rugged street view of the events in Iran via Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. And while the past 12 months have shown us flashes of social media journalism from the globe's political hot spots, the last 7 days in Persia have provided the most poignant example. Young Iranians armed with digital cameras and cell phones have given us unvarnished, if imperfect, images of the most important political struggle inside their country in a generation, all without editorial control, satellite hookup or commercial interruption.
This is citizen journalism, Iranian-style. And it is my hope that this week's events not only bear political fruit for the masses of frustrated and disenfranchised Iranians, but that other reclusive and suppressive regimes around the world see this and recognize that information wants to be free, and that in the age of the smart phone, the days of centralized media control are over.
Very interesting example of how social media is 'good' and how it allows us to get so many more perspectives on world events, beyond the filters of traditional media.
However, there's another side to this, explained roughly here: http://www.ted.com/talks/evgeny_morozov_is_the_internet_what_orwell_feared.html. It's not the best TED lecture but being from a similar part of the world I can say that the idea is true. Social media is now being used just as effectively by those who are against democracy and free speech (youtube has thousands of videos put together by such groups).
That being said, I think it will be interesting to see over the coming years how this battle will play out. Will we still have the same trust and hope for social media promoting democracy and truth or will we need some moderation to stop the machine from doing more damage than good?
Posted by: Erol | October 15, 2009 at 09:12 AM