The Iranian government’s decision to block Google last week provoked concerns among the country’s online community that the Persian firewall had just become harder to penetrate. Then, just as quickly as it had been disconnected, Google came back online. But despite the u-turn, for many, the Google incident reflected the government's wider strategy to control who is saying what to whom in Iran.
There are plans to expand the national intranet, which connects government agencies and offices, to include an Iranian web search and email service. And there are presidential elections coming up in nine months – so it is not any surprise that the mechanisms of control are getting tougher given the role the internet played in post-election protests back in 2009. This week’s News Divide looks at the government’s fight to gain ground in Iranian cyberspace.
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