Iranian opposition showing its green colours and discontent following the Iranian presidential election 12 June. Photo: Syma Sayyah/Payvand.com

With conventional channels of communication virtually blocked, Iranians have used new means of commuication to post photos, videos and stories online to let the world know about public dissent in Iran in the aftermath of the Presidential Election

Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and other online services have become the primary channels of information about events in Iran following the Presidential election on 12 June. Following massive demonstrations Monday launched by the opposition, the Iranian authorities restricted journalists from reporting in the streets. The announcement called all journalists, international as well as Iranian journalists working for foreign media, to report from their offices. Furthermore, the government rejected to renew visas for foreign media  thus forcing many international correspondents to leave the country this week.

"They want to finish it"

At the same time clamp downs on Iranian journalists took a dramatic turn as according to Reporters without Borders, at least 10 Iranian journalists are reported to have been arrested. Article 19 issued a statement on Thursday calling "on the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately unblock Iranians' access to international media, to lift bans on local newspapers and websites, and to stop harassing Iranian and foreign journalists".

On Wednesday one reporter wrote to international colleagues:

"The media situation is not good at all. Whoever worked for the Mousavi camp or those, who like me, send emails, are threathened. I got an anonymous phone call in which I was told that feeding foreign colleagues with original news that they don't otherwise have access to, is an offence too. I try other ways, but it seems they want to finnish it."

Concealing the identity of people who do succeed in disseminating information has therefore become key to protect people from persecution. At the same time, however, anonymously posted stories and video clips prove a major challenge to international news services as it breaks with normal codes of ethics to publish unverified information. International news agencies are inclined to exhibit some reluctance in posting readily anything cited on the Internet or cite general disclaimers on content.

According to the Chigago Sun-Times, the American Broadcaster CNN warned its audience that some of the material used from Twitter and other sources could not be verified.

Iranians IT-savvy despite limited Internet penetration

Although allegedly only a quarter of the 70 million population in Iran have access to the Internet, online communication such as blogging and social networks - not to mention mobile phone communication - is widely used by the population.

It was therefore not surprising that the opposition took to these means to air their discontent - nor was it surprising that the Iranian authorities tried to block these lines of communication.

The flow of information is therefore not likely to end and so, more radical steps may be taken on the part of the authorities in the near future.

One iranian blogger suggested that violent developments may develop over the weekend.

Find more stories and eyewitness accounts from Iran on:

Payvand Iran news online

Payvand iran news online