The internet and politics: Revolution.com
guardian.co.uk / Editorial
05-Jan-2010


Can the internet really bring about political change? Optimists point to the green movement in Iran, when the reformist campaign showed the power of new technologies to organise resistance and to break the stranglehold of censors on information; but the episode also showed that technology alone is not enough to secure democratic change.

As the Iranian regime cracked down on protesters and on international media, the story of the green movement was often brought to the world by those on the streets. Without mobile phone videoNeda Agha-Soltanmight have become yet another protester denied a proper burial rather than the face of the struggle. The Iranian regime could send international journalists packing, but they couldn't stop the flow of information via Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and email. It i... >>>

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