Mobile phones, Facebook, YouTube cut in Iran following election protests
- From: "Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names" <old_redneck@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:30:58 -0700 (PDT)
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/mobile-phones-facebook-youtube-cut-in-iran-20090614-c6xy.html
Mobile phones, Facebook, YouTube cut in IranJune 14, 2009 - 5:50AM
The main mobile telephone network in Iran was cut in the capital
Tehran Saturday evening while popular Internet websites Facebook and
YouTube also appeared to be blocked, correspondents said.
The communication cuts came after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a
landslide re-election victory, sparking rioting in the streets by
opposition supporters who claimed the result had been rigged.
The mobile phone network stopped working at 10:00 pm (1730 GMT), just
before Ahmadinejad went on television to declare the election a "great
victory" and even as baton-wielding police were clashing with
protestors in the streets of Tehran, according to witnesses.
Iran has two national networks run by state-owned MCI
(Telecommunication Company of Iran) and the private firm Irancell.
Several Iran-based users logging on via different Internet service
providers, meanwhile, said they could reach neither Facebook nor
YouTube -- the two websites used effectively by young supporters of
Ahmadinejad's moderate rival Mir Hossein Mousavi.
Mousavi complained bitterly on Saturday against "vote rigging" in the
election, unleashing violent clashes between his supporters and anti-
riot police.
Scores of users started posting pictures and videos of the protests on
both sites shortly after they broke out in Tehran's streets.
Iranian authorities banned the popular social networking website
Facebook on May 23 reportedly to prevent Mousavi supporters from using
it for his presidential campaign prior to Friday's poll.
Access was restored after a few days.
About 60 percent of Iran's 70-million population is under 30 years old
and the country, which applies strict monitoring of cyber material,
has some 20 million web users.
Several pro-Mousavi news websites have also been blocked in the past
two days including two popular ones, Aftab News and Shahab News, which
are regarded as close to Iran's top arbitration body, the Expediency
Council.
The Council is headed by influential former president and Mousavi-
backer, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was the subject of mudslinging
in the presidential campaign after Ahmadinejad accused his sons of
receiving financial privileges in the past.
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The gang in control in Iran doesn't understand they can't defeat the
influence of decadent Western culture.
.
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