For Iran social media has helped greatly when it comes to getting their word out. The people believe that their government rigged a presidential election which as a result caused a major uprising on the people’s part they were in disbelief that their government would do such a thing. People against this were taken to jail for their beliefs against the government and newscasters trying to get the story were thrown out of the country and the visa were not renewed. And the Iranian government got what they wanted because newscasters weren’t able to tell us what happened therefore restricting out social media. Their people like China are being forced to keep a restricted view of what is happening in their own government. It would be like if CNN and BBC didn’t exist. That is a scary thought. However some Iranians are getting information from their own satellite televisions. I found very interesting that the man interviewing asked the interviewee about how Twitter is being used to discuss what is happening with Iran but the interviewee said that Twitter is being used only to for Iranians to discuss with each other what is happening, not with the rest of the world. He also said how newscasters aren’t allowed to leave their hotel room to get coverage. In addition the man said of how he wasn’t nervous about doing the interview but that word was getting around. He says this on a podcast that is on the Internet, of course it is going to get around.
It is true that social media, particularly in this kind of situation, is a powerful instrument for the freedom of speech
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and Raphael with your statements that social media is a powerful instrument for freedom of speech. In cases like Iran, it represents much more than just freedom of speech, it represents a way to actually become a part of their own country and fight for what they think will better the country. Iran, a country that has banned much of what enters the country (media wise) for many years, but it is till now that the people of Iran have actually realized how bad it is. Why is this? because people from our generation have been fighting not only for their freedom of speech, but also to feel more connected with the rest of the world. Globalization is everywhere and with Iran banning so much of their media, globalization from the west world is actually taking a while to arrive and bring all its positive aspects.
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