Iran's censorship policies turn Internet into 'filter-net'

After the recent protests in Iran, during which members of the opposition made much use of the Internet, the regime in Iran has cracked down on free Internet access, so much that dissidents now call it a 'filternet'.

Limiting and disrupting the free flow of information in a society is one of the several clear indications that the state doing so is no democracy. Today, and especially after 9/11, most democracies have already abandoned true freedom of expression by listening in to most communications, by recording all and every bit and byte being exchanged through land, sea or wireless connections, after which smart software analyses all of our data and calls in a human operator if anything suspicious comes along. Worse, however, the fate of dissidents in countries like Iran and China, where one is not only monitored but cut off, where access isn't being given in the first place. An article in today's Independent calls it a cat-and-mouse web game, yet for Iran's active dissidents, opposition members and leaders it's a game only in appearance - because making a wrong move can land one or more people in jail, or may perhaps even lead to a death sentence. Some background to this has been previously provided by Digital Journal, both here and here, The Independent gives us an insight into the state of the Iranian efforts to quell all dissent by writing th following:

Arrayed against the web activists are the fact that Iran's government is equipped with latest monitoring technology, which enables it to detect computers making a secure connection, said Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer for Helsinki-based F-Secure Corporation.

Some proxy servers use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to secure the connection with a remote server. This security layer helps ensure that no other computers can read the traffic exchanged.

When people make these SSL connections - the same type used in the West for Internet shopping - the authorities cannot see the content of material accessed. But they could physically raid sites to check on the computers involved.

Moving from Iran to China, the situation is less volatile, but the effect is much the same: people are cut off from information and can't read what they want to. Even the recent decision by Google not to censor its search results anymore has led to little or no improvement. On a website published by Tibetans in exile, Phayul.com, we can read the following:

Google's apparent victory is hollow and sterile. "Today, in China, Google does give you search results on all these sensitive issues, but when you click on to the links, they are all blocked. Can anything be more frustrating than to be aware of the existence of a page and yet not be able to see it?"

The person quoted here is Tenzin Tsundue, one of the most energetic activists for Tibetan independence who keeps the struggle alive even though he's already once been in a Chinese detention camp.