Students In U.S. Help Iranians Get Info Out
Students At Two American Schools Help Disseminate Iran Protests
© Jon Pike
Jun 26, 2009
Students in the Midwest of the United States are helping Iranians get the word out by high tech and lower tech means.
The students from the University of Chicago and the University of Iowa are assisting Iranians who are protesting the election that gave Mahmoud Ahmadinejad another term in office. The controversial election held on June 12 gave the incumbent another term in office.The results were certified by Iran's ruling Supreme Council. Supporters of the main opposition opponent Mir Hossein Mousasvi, have especially been taking to the streets in protest.
The social networking media Facebook and Twitter, have been used to get word out. But, the Iranian government has been blocking access to the servers and trying to determine from where the messageshave been originating. Students in the United States, however, have found a way to circumvent thegovernment crackdown on Facebook and Twitter.
University of Iowa Students Help Fool the Government
An initiative at the University of Iowa, among a group of students Iranian students and their American counterparts are using a feature of Facebook and Twitter to fool the Iranian government. The social networking tools give out a Global Positioning System signal and time cooordinates. The governmenthas been trying to determine which Facebook and Twitter users are sending contraband information out via these sites. The students simply set their GPS and time settings to those of Tehran. It gives the government more signals to try and track down. In an interview with the Daily Iowan, Mahtab Ghazizadeh,a Univeristy of Iowa graduate research assistant said, " “If others change it, it makes it harder. It confuses the government.”
The Iranian government however, has also been using Facebook and Twitter to send out disinformation.
University of Chicago Students Offer Twitter Alternative
Old technology has been bent to a new purpose. Students at the University of Chicago have been using old-fashioned fax machines to collect information coming out from Iran. The thinking behind this method is that the government shuts down Internet access, old-fashioned telephone lines can be used. The safety of all those involved has been paramount for the group and the Iran Fax Project developed the following protocols for using the faxes:
- Arrange a fax link between someone in Iran, and someone outside.Make sure to only do this with someone you trust completely!
- If the internet in Iran is cut off or severely restricted, start sending fax reports through your trusted links
- Remember that even a trusted connection can be tapped, so we recommend using public fax machines or fax machines open to a large number of people
- The person outside Iran should resend the message to us at 001 773 321 0202. If there is any identifying or sensitive information in the message, they should remove it before resending.
- We will also remove any identifying or sensitive information that we see, including the name, number and location of the resender. We will have 2 people read each fax and check for any accidentally identifying details so that we can be sure each message is safe.
- We will then post the message on our site
Remember, this is a channel of last resort. If the internet is cut off or severely restricted, it will help to get information out of the country. Otherwise, the internet is probably safer.
Thus both new and older communication technology are being used to communicate about the protests in Iran
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