#iranelection is the tag sweeping the Twitterverse, as the protests following the Iranian elections heat up. It is fascinating that in spite of a wide crackdown on communications prior to and during the election, (mobile services and text messaging shut down, Facebook and Youtube closed down) Twitter has emerged as the principal means of notification on the web, thousands of people like @persiankiwi with more than 8000 followers are reporting live from the streets of Teheran, with running updates and posting pics like this one of the opposition march.
This is citizen journalism on the ground going viral almost instantaneously, outpacing traditional media. The Iranian government is scrambling to shut down websites and ISPs, but users are finding loopholes and keep reporting in 140 characters or less. For a list of Twitter reporters from Iran in English, go here.
Elections in authoritarian states are usually hopeless affairs for the opposition. In Cuba candidates are preapproved by organizations run by the government like the CDRs. According to the UN, “the electoral process is so tightly controlled that the final phase, the voting itself, could be dispensed with without the final result being substantially affected” (source) In countries like Iran and Venezuela, the state brings to bear huge public resources for the campaigns, and uses the vast public sector for filling rallies and marches and its media power to overpower opposition voices.
It is fascinating to see how a simple app like Twitter can instantly tune in the world to what is happening behind the headlines unfiltered. If the opposition in Cuba and Venezuela can call attention to the repression they suffer in this way, those regimes will find themselves under a great deal of international scrutiny. Unfortunately, a “news event” like clashes and mayhem seems necessary to catch the world’s attention in the first place.
To the people fighting for their voice to be heard, international awareness only goes so far. More importantly is the fact that through Twitter and other messaging media they can coordinate when the government controls all other forms of media, and by breaking this silence they are assured they do not stand alone.
