By Omid Habibinia - Media Researcher and Journalist
A few days before Norouz, (first day of spring, which is celebrated by Iranians as the New Year) rumors circulated that this time there would be a different message from the White House.
...
For the first time, a US president sent a video, rather than a written message, marking Norouz and addressed the people and leaders of the Iranian Islamic Republic together. The message made some opposition groups angry, since the Iranian people were addressed equally with the Islamic Republic’s leaders.
On the other side, in Iran, everybody waited for a response from Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme (political and cleric) leader. When he talked about the message the day after, in Mashhad, he said in his speech: “We still couldn’t see any real change in US diplomacy toward Iran, if (the) US government continues its animosity with Iran, we would be the same (men) as (the) last 30 years.” This was interpreted as the official Islamic Republic’s response to Obama’s message.
In his messages, the US president asked for an ending to the animosity between the two countries and stated:
“My administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us, and to pursuing constructive ties among the United States, Iran and the international community. This process will not be advanced by threats. We seek instead engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect.”
After the Islamic Republic’s leader gave his response, some of the regime’s leaders, including Rafsanjani (Iranian president from 1989 to 1997), also exhibited the same reaction asking for real change in US policy toward Iran, some of them such as Ahamadinejad insisted and repeated Khamanei’s opinion that they could see little if any change in US policy yet.
Since the White house called Obama’s message ‘just the beginning’ of new a diplomacy to insure Iran’s regime for real change, the new opportunity of direct talk came up. When the US Foreign Office asked Iran to participate in the Afghanistan summit at The Hague, Iran actually sent its “B Team”. At the summit, the only direct talk between the two countries was greetings and the shaking of hands, which also came with different stories from both sides.
However, it seems due to a huge economic crisis in Iran, that the Islamic Republic’s leaders prefer to have more hidden economic talks with the US administration than direct talks that might form a relationship with the US.
Based on an Associated Press analysis, Iran was one of the highest benefitting customers of US exports in 2008. The two governments have no official direct relationship and in fact, Iran is still under US sanctions.
In recent weeks, there has been a notable increase in Facebook "friend requests" from colleagues and friends in Iran. It seems that someone has decided to allow more Iranians access to the Web site, at last.
Facebook is one of the most popular online social networking venues among Iranians and it's estimated that over 200,000, mostly living abroad, are members.
Alexa.com, which collects Web traffic and ranking data, shows that a quiet but significant change took place among the usual top-ranked Web sites' weekly visits inside Iran. However, blog providers remain on top on the list — Blogfa, a free Persian Weblog service, claims to have more than 1,500,000 member blogs. Other providers, including Persian Blog, Mihan Blog, and Parsiblog are said to have an estimated 700,000 members, while roughly 300,000 Persian users frequent Wordpress, Blogger and Blogsky.
Iran is credited with having the third largest blogsphere after the United States and China, with 2.5 million blogs drawing approximately 5 million hits per day. It is estimated that Iranian bloggers tend to update their blogs on an average of at least once per week.
It is well known that the Iranian government has been filtering online political dissident and critical blogs for years. This has forced bloggers to search for other less conspicuous Web venues to exercise their right to express themselves freely. Until last month many such providers, like Blogger and Wordpress, were banned by most Internet providers in Iran.
The Islamic Republic is notorious not only for banning and filtering blogs, and the Internet generally, but also for inflicting heavy punishments on non-conformist bloggers, such as kidnapping, imprisonment, and torture. At the present time there are about 20 bloggers, including five women's rights activists, in jail where there are many stories of suspicious suicides and deaths.
A committee drawn from the Ministry of Intelligence, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the High Council of Cultural Revolution, and the ministries of Communication, and Islamic Guidance and Culture are responsible for the filtering and banning activity.
Reportedly, more than 5 million sites have been banned in Iran, including political, entertainment, scientific, adult, photography, sharing, and social networking venues.
The filtering has also affected some religious Shiite sites, based on some Fatwa content featuring Islamic guidance on sex and marriage. The committee's software is able to seek these words out, send the sites to a blacklist, and filter/ban them. Ironically, and on a slightly humorous note, the very same filtering system also banned content from some highly respected Ayatollahs who then cried, "Why have you filtered my Web site?"
However, since last month something has definitely changed. Some of the most popular social networking sites such as Facebook and Youtube, among others, are now slightly accessible, but not without severe repercussions for their use.
At the same time, a new and virulent wave of Internet attacks against many journalists and activists inside and outside of Iran has begun to emerge.
Last week, by chance, I noticed there is another Omid Habibinia on Facebook who has not only added my close friends and colleagues, but also my little sister. Strangely, the fake ID holder added a Swiss girl who I have spoken with and has contacted her several times to know if she can play in a docudrama about a Swiss girl who has an online friend from Iran.
I am also aware that fake ID holders have contacted other friends and asked some "strange questions."
Facebook makes an ideal platform for intelligence agents in Iran to infiltrate social networks, where they can hack information, locate events, addresses and monitor their subjects.
I have learned that my Gmail account has previously been accessed without my permission, and the persons responsible knew every contact, place and idea that I shared with others, including the re-launch of a well-known Web site that was put online about five years ago called Freedom of Expression (Azadi e Bayan). It was the first site to support Ahamad Batebi, who was kidnapped during his leave from jail after his meeting in Tehran with Ambeyi Ligabo, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' special rapporteur on freedom of expression in November 2003. The site also supported all journalists, artists, intellectuals and bloggers who were facing danger within the Islamic Republic.
Another kind of attack was recently perpetrated by "special hackers" against Balatarin, the Persian version of Digg.com.
The hackers stole the owners' IDs of this popular site, including a well-known news source in Iran. The information gleaned was used to try and hack into their bank accounts. At the same time, Balatarin was ordered to reformat their servers, making it more difficult to discover the identities of the hackers. This Web site draws more than 250,000 pageviews per day and is used as a source for following news, even among journalists.
During recent weeks, many Iranian journalists and prominent bloggers have claimed that their IDs were closed by Facebook, due to being reported for insulting or even pornographic content.
The same trick has also been used on other bloggers. Some, who use providers outside of Iran, are reported on by agents and requests are made to the blog providers for closure or to have a warning sign placed before a visitor can access the content. The complaint is that these blogs are an insult to religion or pornographically offensive. I know some bloggers who only post their usual poems on their blogs, which most of the time are neither blasphemies or erotic, but have still incurred an online warning message.
The same thing is happening on Youtube. Many demonstrations and protests in Iran are captured by mobile phones and shared on the video-sharing site. However, some of the videos have been removed because of the pressure placed on Youtube through the report of supposed insults. Some gaffs by Iranian leaders or by TV presenters are also sometimes removed by Youtube. It is clear when in a two-day period, 200 reports are received asking for the removal of certain videos, that site administrators might follow suit.
However, it seems obvious that most of these e-mails and reports came from a specific place in Tehran.
Non-conformist Iranian bloggers are now facing a new form tyranny from information and intelligence insiders on the Internet. It is hard to know who is who. I am not sure if Shirin is the Shirin who was a former colleague on TV, or if she is a fake. The strange thing is when I message her on Facebook I get the wrong answer or no answer. I always ask some personal questions about a given person's past to ascertain their true identity, but who knows if the hackers have access to background details and can correctly answer the questions?
In less than six months there is going to be another round of elections in Iran and it seems that this coordinated attack on journalists, bloggers and activists is being facilitated through Internet communication. It appears that the ultimate goals are to silence, threaten and send signals of monitoring and stolen information to infiltrate networks. Those in question have learned that they can use Facebook and Youtube for their propaganda as well.
While many concerned individuals with Facebook accounts are sifting through their newly-added friends list to find suspicious ones, the hidden war of censorship and anti-censorship continues inside Iran.
Omid Habibinia is an Iranian journalist who has worked for state radio and television organizations as a senior media researcher and producer.
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From Last week, I am receiving daily more than 20 new friend requests on FB, I don’t know most of them and at the same time heard about fake IDs.
This also happened to me, I notice by chance there is another Omid Habibina, he (they) even added my little sister on FB!
People sometime don’t attention why should accept another ID with the same name?
So they could access some information on FB including address, contacts, networks and monitoring them.
I asked FB immediately delete the fake ID and wrote on my statues bar "PLZ don’t add fakes, I am the only Real Omid Habibinia on FB!"
I also warned some of my friends who add fake ID ;that one is not me, plz delete it and report FB.
I also asked them to let me know about their contacts and learned he (they) asked some personal questions.
Really surprised when I got they added a Swiss girl whom I contacted with her for a film project,so... I guess they should have hacked my Gmail for a period of time.
This has been happening to many people since last months.
I believe there is a center in Tehran organized for such internet attacks.
Last month I was invited to an intersting workshop on Iran's media at Annenberg School for Communication.
Since it was during the Christmas time I thought that I would not make it, first of all, I am Iranian and due to political reason it will take longer period than other citizens, second I feel uncomfortable with the way they might treat me at the US embassy,with their "strange questions",which looks like interrogation.
I recall another conference on Iran's media at university of Washington in 2006, which organizers showed deep interest in mypaper since as usualI had presentedrecent data and personal survey in my work, and upon their invitation I approached US embassy for visa, where I encounteredreally annoying questions. I wondered, I am a political refugee and they can easily get access to my profile, so there is no need to undergo such "stupid questions".
Later I heard lots of stories of other Iranians on misbehavior and humility of finger printing, they have been through, and even my BBC colleagues who had official missions to Washington, but traveling with Iranian passport were not exempted for such unfriendly attitudes of US immigration board officers.
So this time, I simply gave up, there was no need to try the lessons learned again, perhaps there is no changein the US immigration board’s usual questions even if the White House got new tenant, promising for many changes!
Last week one of my ex-colleagues at the BBC informed me that he saw my name at the hotel reservation in Philadelphia, I replied that’s good newsat least I could have gotten a room over there, even though I didn’t get the visa!
Surprisingly last week, I was also “promptly " invited to another panel in London at the same time which many of my colleagues will participate too. I informed them that I need a visa for UK too, hopefully this might be much easier, since I had notable work and travel history over there, and also there is no bitter memories of “stupid and strange questions" in my mind, but organizers excused themselves for assisting me for accommodation in London, promising that "next time", invitation will include accommodation for lecturers!
At this point , I wondered how they choose their panelists and how important is for them that Mr. Y comes instead of Mrs X?!
I highly appreciate if you arrange the formalities for your next conference in a more organized and timely manner, in case if you consider me to have a presentation on Persian media.
Today more than 60 Isreali F-16 bombers attacked Gaza and officals annonced more than 200 ordinary people killed and about 700 others were wonded.
Isreal army claims these air stricks are responding to Hamas rocket attacks into Isreal, Gaza was blockade for several months and it seems in the eve of new year Israili warplanesfireing death upon inocent people living there, the people who are victims of both Islamists and Isreali militarism and sufforing for basic needs.
Hamas is not obeying the Mahmoud Abbas government and just cause more tension, reveals its power and deepening Islamic fundamentalism in the region and I think at the other side someone in Israel also need them!
I couldn’t find my Palestinian and Israeli Bloggers friends in the past days, but I am sure all of them are in deep shock and sadness, those of who in both side insist war just cause disgust and I am sure Gaza’s people under Islamic government are the real victims of both side.
Many Persian blogs wrote about this horrible situation in Gaza and some of them use Muslims Bloggers Banner in their blog, I am wondering how is possible to be leftist, atheist and against Islamic Republic and use their banner to support Gaza’s people?
As far as I know these 'Muslims bloggers' who dependent to some governmental organization are accusing to have the main rule to monitor, investigating and spying against the majority of Iranian bloggers who are secular, not supporting IR’s propaganda, or atheists, feminists and leftists.
I wrote once about Gaza in Zamaneh which was so popular, but I hope I don’t need to write more,… we are living with our hopes specially in the New Year 's time, so lets hope this painful long story will end soon!
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