Iran increases web censorship

Not surprisingly, blogs are a target.

Iran shows a sophistication in filtering seen only in China and a few other countries, adapting its techniques as use of the Internet evolves, said John Palfrey, a Harvard University researcher who studied censorship in Iran for the OpenNet Initiative.

Before, the targets were mostly static English Web sites located in the United States and Europe.

But with the rise of Web journals, or blogs, Internet service providers are being ordered to prevent Iranians from reaching other Iranians directly, blocking them from posting messages containing certain Farsi keywords, Palfrey said.

The strategy makes sense because citizens ''most likely are to be most interested in and energized by information in their own language,'' said Ron Deibert, a University of Toronto professor who also served as a principal investigator for the study.

''If you're looking to stem … the mobilization of political groups, it's not what the BBC or Amnesty International is saying that you're concerned with. It's what some Iranian dissident is saying in Farsi language to compatriots.''

Thanks to DoctorZin.