Google Blocked in Iran, and Censorship Mistakes
It has been widely reported that on the evening of 16 September 2007 Google and its related services (Gmail, et cetera) were blocked in Iran. The popular blog server blogfa was also blocked. Iran unblocked access to these services in the afternoon of 17 September, though it is unclear how long it may stay open; according to the Fars news agency, the government called the original blocking an “error."
Whether an error or not, intermittent blocking of important sites and services such as Google’s is a frightening experience for Internet users in Iran. One Iranian blogger gloomily reported the blocking, along with a screenshot. A reader commented: "This is... unbelievable. Might as well just cut off the network to the outside world and call it a day."
The implications of ‘errors’ in blocking and censorship can be high. In August, AT&T received strong backlash from a variety of parties after they webcast a Pearl Jam song played at Lollapalooza, censored by a subcontractor. The song, as sung at Lollapalooza, included the lines "George Bush, leave this world alone," and "George Bush, find yourself another home." The censored version muted all sound during these lines. The band was notified of the censorship by its fans, and Pearl Jam brought it to the attention of AT&T management. AT&T called the initial censorship a ‘mistake’ and quickly substituted the censored version of the webcast for a non-censored version, but the damage was done.
In what has become, in recent months, standard Internet protest, both the censored and uncensored versions of the webcast were made available on YouTube, and netizens concerned with net neutrality lambasted AT&T for their apparent ‘mistake’. Pearl Jam wrote an open letter to its fans, criticizing the censorship and calling for new discussion of net neutrality. (At the same time, AT&T has been lobbying against additional net neutrality legislation, asking individuals to trust that AT&T does not get in between the bits that pass through their servers.) Institutional investor Trillium Asset Management, which holds approximately $8 million worth of AT&T shares, wrote a letter to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, questioning the management practices that could lead to such an egregious mistake. AT&T is now being asked to explain its practices to shareholders and others.
As the trend in Internet filtering continues to grow, we might expect mistakes and errors to increase as well. Their seriousness will likely also increase, as individuals depend more and more heavily on the Internet for communication.
