Tehran, Iran
Digital News Report- Local and foreign journalists located in Iran have been officially prohibited from reporting on the continuing protests occurring across the country. The protesters are claiming that the recent re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was rigged. Protests have raged across the country since the June 12th election, but the media blackout has made it nearly impossible for mainstream media to report on events taking place in Iran.
Iranian citizens have turned to the internet to broadcast information about the ongoing protests. According to a statement on YouTube’s blog, “Even though YouTube appears to be blocked in Iran… we continue to see videos being uploaded to the site that document city streets crowded with angry demonstrators, violent clashes between protesters and state police, and visceral scenes of mass unrest.” Currently YouTube is only receiving about 10% of their usual traffic from Iran.
Like Twitter, YouTube has proved to be a major communication tool for the people of Iran. Youtube’s blog says that it, “has become a citizen-fueled news bureau of video reports filed straight from the streets of Tehran, unfiltered. Because the Iranian government is cracking down on local and international media coverage, these citizen-generated videos are providing an exclusive look at the developing violence.”
The following video is one of many that has been uploaded from Iran. It supposedly shows Iranian military forces in a residential neighborhood at night. Though the exact circumstances surrounding the video are vague, as much of the material leaked from Iran is, the tension is obvious.
To follow the movement online via Twitter, use these helpful links.
Change_for_Iran
ProtestorHelp
PersianKiwi
StopAhmadi
IranRiggedElect
mousavi1388
knv
openiran
TehranBureau
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