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Marked for Death by Twitter
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Social-networking sites are being celebrated as conduits for information out of Iran. But with the supreme leader vowing to punish dissidents, these digital footprints could prove deadly.
After a week in which masses of protesters endured brutal police beatings and daring attacks by club-wielding thugs on motorcycles, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered a little clarity. The lugubrious religious authority told throngs of supporters at his Friday Prayer at Tehran University that the June 12 elections were free and fair, and that those who question them from the streets question Iranian democracy itself.
To some extent, the age of the camera phone, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook mean that protesters are now spying on themselves.
Khamenei, of course, sits above Iran’s electoral democracy, as the nation’s ultimate arbiter. Opposition leaders, he said, must stop the demonstrations or bear the blame for “bloodshed and chaos.” If someone were to summarize his lengthy speech on Twitter, it might go like this: Khamenei: "If protesters don’t back down, there will be a crackdown."
Khamenei hasn’t simply endorsed President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s contested victory, he has essentially absolved the reinstated president—in advance—of blame for any violent repression to come. Like the recent protests, this new violence would no doubt result in dramatic video and photos on YouTube, Flickr and Facebook, and alarming “Tweets” and blog postings with links to those images. While Twitter isn’t a major revolutionary tool to organize protests in a place like Iran, the cryptic 140-character Tweets can be a pretty good means of making the outside world aware of events, especially when journalists are prevented from leaving their homes or offices.
But there is also inherent danger in all of this Web 2.0 information-sharing. In a crackdown, the video, photos, and blogs used to rally international support can help Iranian authorities identify protesters for arrest. Sophisticated Web users might know how to reduce this risk by adopting pseudonyms, masking the identity of their computers, and creating proxy servers that make information harder to trace to its source. (Some are even savvy enough to do the obvious: Avoid posting photos and video, or giving names, that clearly identify individuals, especially if the video shows them clashing with authorities.)
But the truth is that many people are not taking such precautions—especially when confronted by more immediate concerns, such as someone bearing down on them with clubs or guns, or a Basiji militia member aiming his motorcycle into a crowd. The cellphones the protesters are using to transmit text, photo, video, and some Tweets are also easy to pinpoint geographically by the authorities who control the service. CNN reported this morning that some demonstrators were being told to remove the SIM cards in their phones to avoid being tracked.
This should be a concern, because the fact is that most revolutionary moments don’t succeed. And when they fail, authorities usually move to consolidate their power, methodically ferreting out dissenters and punishing them with jail sentences, exile, disappearance, or death. In the old days, authorities relied heavily on informers and spies—and they still do—but to some extent the age of the camera phone, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook mean that protesters are now spying on themselves.
It took awhile for Iranian authorities to fully comprehend the role of the Internet and cellphones in these protests. But in recent days people believed to be members of the Iranian security apparatus have set up apparent decoy Web sites about the demonstrations to gather IP addresses that will allow them to locate the computer of anyone tricked into clicking on them. Others—again believed to be government agents—have begun what appears to be an active campaign to mis- and dis-inform through Twitter postings. (Twitspam actually offers a list of apparent Twit-spy offenders.)
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Eric Pape has reported on Europe and the Mediterranean region for Newsweek Magazine since 2003. He is co-author of the graphic novel Shake Girl, which was inspired by one of his articles. He has written for the Los Angeles Times magazine, Spin, Vibe, Le Courrier International, Salon, Los Angeles and others. He is based in Paris.
Mr Pape makes an excellent set of cogent points (albeit late to help a lot of people) we can do our part by helping these patriots by running identity-shielding software like this:
https://www.torproject.org/
Please post if anyone has a better way.
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Interesting...
I appreciate your blog post. With political protest, I say there is safety in numbers. That is why many of us on Twitter have posted out locations as Tehran and are retweeting information we hear from trusted Iran sources. (But as an aside, social media is not at all underground... Mousavi has a Facebook page.) But I don't think we can blame social media, photographs, and circulating youtube videos for quashing the revolutionary moment. Agent provocateurs, the basiji, and secret agents are threatening the lives of people fighting for democracy. Not to mention Western indifference is quite lethal indeed. Caroline aka @caroline815
To this Iranian struggle, having direct U.S.support,would actually put their side in more danger, and threaten the legitimacy of their movement!So say Iranians themselves!
Also, the leader they want, is no better than Ahmahdinejad - as far as we are concerned.Neither is a U.S. sympathizer.Whomever is elected, it is the religious leader who is really in power, unless he gets tossed out.That is the issue. They want non-religious leadership, but not U.S. interference!
The Supreme leader, is already blaming U.S interference, & involvement. Accusing those rebelling U.S. puppets. Our past involvement in Iranian govt. overthrow of democratically elected Shah, gave rise to this current, oppressive regime to come into power in the first place. Our hands are not clean. We were the interfering force that caused Iraq to attack Iran, and a 7 yr war ensued.While the young want world support, we cannot be theones who step in, alone.
This is a wonderful/terrible moment on Iran's history.
The Religious Oligarchy will never, never, allow any sory of real democracy that threatens their power. The Shah had a secret police and Ahmadineja does too. But, for the first time, the absolutist power the Mullahs hold is now starting to shake. It will slowly crumble.
Thats the key word - slowly. It may take years.
In the meantime, thousands will be imprisoned and die.
The liberation movement needs covert help from the west, desperately.
Freedom is not Free is it. It does have a cost and it is not money. Were that is came so cheap. But it does not. So let us stop now, and on the 4th of July, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Pearl Harbor Day stop and Count The Cost.
Go ask your Father, Mother, who served this Country in your family, Peacetime or War. Doesn't matter. Then follow your family tree back. All the one's who took the time to serve. And Count the Cost of Freedom.
In a world of pornography it is impossible for the government to deny the young a chance to live out their sexual fantasies. Unless the Ayatollahs allow the infidels sexual freedom there will be bloodshed in the streets. This is not only an economic revolution but also a sexual one. The young have been sexually stimulated by pornographic videos and they want the real thing now.
This is a cry for non-religious, non-oppressive leadership,not based upon some porn-starved motivations. Porn has never even been discussed by any of the experts. Where'd you get this idea?Who'd be willing to die for porn?
Most are devout Muslims.They just want their votes & voices to be heard. Mousavi, who the protesting group voted for, is an ultra conservative Muslim, not much of a change, except that he's against theocratic ultimate rule, which is why, if he did get most of the votes, is being denied.He is not pro- American, & lead the government to build towards nuclear power - which we stand against.He's not standing for the porn party - that's ridiculous.
The religious rulers were not elected, but took over after we destabilized Iran. Though the young are 60% of the population, they are not expecting a U.S. type culture, from what I hear.
This article is tragic, and chilling.These young Iranians, we now feel so empathetic towards,a mere few years ago we knew so little about, but that they're a danger to us.
I was surprised, years ago,to learn many are pro-American, then, later, they are not Arabic, but Persian.Then too, that the Palestinians are not just religious-crazy zealots, but many are highly educated, & horribly oppressed, by Israel,as most of the world stood silent, & complicit.
They were blowing themselves up, with evil intent - to take out Jewish people going about their daily lives. In a vacuum of ignorance - we had no idea why.It was b/c they were demonstrating, in extreme, crazy, destructive ways.They wanted the world to know their story, but we never heard it in the mainstream media.Did we hear or see their pleas?
Some I knew understood, but I was in the dark, & confused. They are still to this day, being held as prisoners in their own country, which is walled in, while their land was built upon by Israelis!
We heard only that we were attacked on 9/11 b/c "they" are jealous of our luxurious lifestyle! We in the U.S.knew so little about the world.Maybe events, though tragic peel back the curtain, and we see people much like ourselves.
Now we see the Iranian dissident's pleas printed on cards held high in protest - in Farsi & in English - it is so compelling, but their faces & texts incriminate them.The fact that they have embraced modern technology, allows us to have a clue of what they're embroiled in.It is also creating a trail of crumbs leading directly to many of their doors.
As we are watching,now, militia men - some say foreign mercenaries, & al qaedea thugs,are doing the dirty work...pulling people out of their homes, shooting one here, one there.Who knows if they'll be beaten, tortured, or killed, for wanting to be free to elect whomever they want.
Thank you.
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