The Security Blog

Two further, conflicting, usages of electronic data are emerging in the Iranian situation.  In the first, a website is using digital picture evidence to show how Lebanese, arabic-speaking, and non-Iranian-military forces are being use to repress the freedom seeking protesters in Iran.

The site lebasshakhsi.blogspot.com/ is providing pictorial evidence (some examples above) of "security forces" who are Lebas-Shakhsi (without uniform) beating peaceful demonstrators.  It follows those pictures with documentary evidence to the foreign nature of those forces.    Being foriegn here, in addition to the terms emphasised above means a few different things.  For example:

• That the regime was prepared ahead of time for "troubles" with these elections and even expecting trouble;
  
• That the regime believed it could not reliably call on its own, Persian, forces to fire on their fellow citizens;
  
• That the Lebanese-based Hizballah forces were willing to potentially sacrifice their own fighters to do favors for the Iranian regime; and
  
• That Hizballah has no particular like to the average Persian in the street, and willing to beat them and kill them.
  

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On the opposite side, the Iranian Regime has sites, such as xxxxx (name withheld per request) that use a technique called "crowdsourcing" to show faces of individual protesters and to ask the public to "come and tell us who they are".  Of course, using language such as

Unfortunately,… hypocrites, monarchists and counter-revolutionary and terrorist groups in cyberspace and the media are nothing but [trying to] disrupt the country social security and not for any other purpose to achieve this aim to …"

to try and encourage voluntary snitching on protesters.  That, if followed by a "call to their national responsibility"

Therefore, all users hereby and Iranian families are expected if [they know of] the personal data of any of the following photos and any news and information including photos, films, articles, news, email, web address, or complaints about the flow of disturbance of trade and [of the ] demand of each group in cyberspace actions [which] are destructive to stimulate activity through the site [...should email the information to the authorities]

Conflicting use of digital information.

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In an apparent show of support out of the US Legislative Branch, and a show of competition to George Lucas in number of sequels (of my blog), Jedi Senators Joe Lieberman, John McCain and Lindsey Graham (shown below, on Tattoine), announced a new bill, to be introduced after the July 4 recess, aimed at providing and funding support for the Iranian cyberwarriors.

Announcing that they see the Iranian regime using Cyber warfare technologies, or in their words

Over the last two weeks, the Iranian regime has worked aggressively to stop its citizens from getting uncensored information about what is happening inside their country, and to prevent them from exercising their fundamental rights to free speech and free assembly online. The Iranian regime continues to jam satellite and radio broadcasts, disrupt cell phone service, monitor Internet use, and block websites.

I applaud their understanding of the situation. As a member of the Freebird project, it is nice to have official US Government support, both financial and moral (and presumably legal), to efforts that allow the Iranian people to find their voice.   

This is, in fact, operating a mini-Voice-of-America service – backwards.  As the importance of these ways of communication becomes more and more understood and recognized, the value of assisting repressed people around the world share their plights  will be more praised.  

This will make situations such as the massacre in Rwanda or Mass-rapes in the former Yugoslavia less likely to happen, more reading and quickly able to be addressed, and faster to resolve in a humane and democratic way.

One of the most important results from "the Twitter Revolution" we already have is the great benefit of having hundreds, and hundreds of thousands "on ramps" to the Information Superhighway that the Internet is and that the western world is plugged into.

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