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Does Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speak for his people? No.
Iran places serous sanctions on free speech, censoring their media
and controlling what Iranians see and say on the Internet. Reporters Without Boarders reported that Iran
has imprisoned more bloggers than any other country in the world. While in
2005, a study by the Open Net Initiative, a collaboration between the University
of Toronto, Harvard, Cambridge
and Oxford, found that the Iranian regime blocked 30% of news sites; 40% political
descent; 15% blogs; and 98% of political sites.
Many discontented Iranians, fed up with state run media, have turned to
the Internet as
the only medium for free speech. According to the Guardian, in 2004
there were 75,000 Iranian blogs, making Farsi the fourth most popular bloging
language. However, according to the Open Net Initiative report, the
government blocks blogs on a case by case basis. The state counters political opposition by closing down media companies, taking away journalist's licences, and blocking national access to blogs that are 'against the revolutionary principles'.
As Iranian officials use ‘free speech’ to justify spreading anti-Semitic hate propaganda, their government restricts its population's access to information, especially information by political critics—however, you can help stop this.  If you want to liberate the imprisoned voice
of moderate Iran, then
help promote Psiphon,
a new application that can allow people in free countries to provide Iranians with safe access to information and the ability to speak out.
Psiphon is a human rights software project developed by Citizen
Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies. It allows citizens
in uncensored countries to provide unfettered access to the Internet
through their home computers to friends and family members who live behind
firewalls of states that censor.
By promoting this application among the Iranian community, by providing
Internet access to Iranians, or by setting up a server, you can help liberate
the diverse voice of Iran--and one that does not represent the racist
opinions of their current government. Do what you can to promote this
technology.
Visit the website, learn more, and spread the word:http://psiphon.civisec.org
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