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- May 30, 2013
- 99
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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) The joy of
Iran's Facebook and Twitter fans was
short-lived as authorities on Tuesday
restored blocks on social networks
after filters were lifted for several
hours overnight.
The brief access was a "technical
glitch" that was quickly rectified,
according to communications official
Abdolsamad Khoramabadi, from the
board overseeing Internet in Iran.
But it could also point to increasing
internal struggles between groups
seeking to reopen Facebook and
other social networking sites, and
hard-liners in the Iranian
establishment, who remain firmly in
control of Internet access.
Many Facebook and Twitter followers
in the capital, Tehran, and other
Iranian cities assumed the surprise
Internet freedoms late Monday were
the result of policies by newly
elected President Hasan Rouhani,
who has pledged more outreach to
the West and a new openness in
Iran.
Scores of Facebook users posted
notes of "Rouhani, Mochakerim,"
which is Farsi for "Thank you,
Rouhani."
"God liberated Facebook," wrote
Mohammad Reza on his Facebook,
adding that it was his happiest time
ever.
The postings quickly subdued when
reality struck and the sites were no
longer available on Tuesday
morning, forcing Iranian Internet
users to again have to go through
proxy servers for access.
The semi-official Mehr news agency
quoted Khoramabadi, the
communications official, as saying
that board members were unclear as
to what had caused the "technical
failure regarding some Internet
service providers." He warned of
unspecified measures if it turns out
to have been an international move
against Iran.
"We will take action if there was a
human flaw," said Khoramabadi. "We
are probing it."
Some Internet users raised other
suspicions.
Amir Reza wrote on his page that
the brief access was a trick by Iran's
cyber police to trace Iranian users of
Facebook.
Iran has blocked Facebook, Twitter
and other social networks after they
were widely used by opposition
supporters during mass street
protests following the disputed 2009
re-election of Rouhani's predecessor,
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Several members of Rouhani's
Cabinet now have their own
Facebook pages but there are
internal tensions among Iran's
leadership over whether the Internet
is ultimately a force to be expanded
or best kept tightly controlled.
Disputes have even broken out on
Web-based Iranian news sites
over the authenticity of some of the
Facebook pages linked to some
ministers.
Iran's Facebook and Twitter fans was
short-lived as authorities on Tuesday
restored blocks on social networks
after filters were lifted for several
hours overnight.
The brief access was a "technical
glitch" that was quickly rectified,
according to communications official
Abdolsamad Khoramabadi, from the
board overseeing Internet in Iran.
But it could also point to increasing
internal struggles between groups
seeking to reopen Facebook and
other social networking sites, and
hard-liners in the Iranian
establishment, who remain firmly in
control of Internet access.
Many Facebook and Twitter followers
in the capital, Tehran, and other
Iranian cities assumed the surprise
Internet freedoms late Monday were
the result of policies by newly
elected President Hasan Rouhani,
who has pledged more outreach to
the West and a new openness in
Iran.
Scores of Facebook users posted
notes of "Rouhani, Mochakerim,"
which is Farsi for "Thank you,
Rouhani."
"God liberated Facebook," wrote
Mohammad Reza on his Facebook,
adding that it was his happiest time
ever.
The postings quickly subdued when
reality struck and the sites were no
longer available on Tuesday
morning, forcing Iranian Internet
users to again have to go through
proxy servers for access.
The semi-official Mehr news agency
quoted Khoramabadi, the
communications official, as saying
that board members were unclear as
to what had caused the "technical
failure regarding some Internet
service providers." He warned of
unspecified measures if it turns out
to have been an international move
against Iran.
"We will take action if there was a
human flaw," said Khoramabadi. "We
are probing it."
Some Internet users raised other
suspicions.
Amir Reza wrote on his page that
the brief access was a trick by Iran's
cyber police to trace Iranian users of
Facebook.
Iran has blocked Facebook, Twitter
and other social networks after they
were widely used by opposition
supporters during mass street
protests following the disputed 2009
re-election of Rouhani's predecessor,
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Several members of Rouhani's
Cabinet now have their own
Facebook pages but there are
internal tensions among Iran's
leadership over whether the Internet
is ultimately a force to be expanded
or best kept tightly controlled.
Disputes have even broken out on
Web-based Iranian news sites
over the authenticity of some of the
Facebook pages linked to some
ministers.
