Iran: Social Media and Democracy

From time to time in our history, there are events that capture the world and transforms everything in the country of conflict, and the Iranian election protests of 2009 are no different. There’s something inspiring and captivating about large scale peaceful demonstrations, regardless of the cause. Despite the fact that many have said that the reformist candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi is not much different than the current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, (as far as US-Iran relations, Nuclear Ambitions) the very fact that the Iranian people are being denied their right to vote is an important step in the reformist movement there. Most Iranians know that even with Mousavi in office, large sweeping changes are unlikely.  Reformist President Mohammad Khatami, who served 8 years in office, was never able to deliver the reform changes that he had promised during his presidency, mostly due to the fact that the President of Iran is always playing second fiddle to the Supreme Leader of Iran, who is the ultimate decider on all important matters.

Watching movements like this in the past was only possible with foreign reporters in the country of conflict, or by citizens of those countries who were able to leave the country with photographs and videos. However, what happens when the foreign press is removed, and all forms of travel are restricted in and out of the country? With the advent of the Internet, those rules are changing. Social Media channels are also playing a large role in the conflict. You can’t watch the news for more than 2 minutes without a mention of breaking news or footage made available via Twitter, or Youtube, or Facebook, etc. Real time news and updates are changing how journalism is bringing news to the masses. Young Iranians are now able to let the world know what is going on inside their borders via multitudes of Social Media outlets. How important is this? Take for example, the US State Department requested that Twitter delay a schedule downtime maintenance so that Iranians were able to update and report from within Iran on the events unfolding.

Youtube has also played a large role in sharing videos around the world. Check out their statement from their blog recently:

In general, we do not allow graphic or gratuitous violence on YouTube. However, we make exceptions for videos that have educational, documentary, or scientific value. The limitations being placed on mainstream media reporting from within Iran make it even more important that citizens in Iran be able to use YouTube to capture their experiences for the world to see. Given the critical role these videos are playing in reporting this story to the world, we are doing our best to leave as many of them up as we can. YouTube is, at its core, a global forum for free expression.

This is clear – the world is watching with careful eyes. This is a historic event, and could have large implications in the future of Iran and their relationship with the United States and the rest of the world.  Watching young Iranians take to the streets and blatantly defy the Ayatollah is unfathomable. Even just six months ago, if the Ayatollah would have told people to get off the streets, they would have left without even thinking about it.  Being able to share text and audio via Social Media is of course of great interest to me, and this is the ultimate world stage to show how important that these tools are. For those that dismiss the power of social media and have thought of them as no more than silly “kid networks”, I hope that these events have perhaps changed your view on them.

Tagged as: Democracy, Iran, Iran Elections, Social Media