Hi SEBEOS, thanks for your comment.

Regarding your question about the Iranian Green Movement: It refers to the uprising started in June 2009 – which was a reaction to the result of the presidential election 2009. Those who took part in the uprising claimed that an electoral fraud had occurred. It was called the Green Movement since it was created on the platform of “the green wave” – the presidential campaign of Mousavi (a candidate of the presidential election). The green referred both to the color of Islam and the color of spring which promise rebirth/renewal in Iranian culture. The color was used for political mobilization. In this text the information about the Green Movement is very short because there is a link to another text about the same topic.

Regarding your critique: I am not sure which part of the text you refer to when you say I am praising the Internet. Through the discussions on diaspora and unequal access to the Internet, I tried to show how the culture of dissent in online space is created through different processes of inclusion and exclusion. Halal nett – which is best-known as national Internet in Iran – is government’s attempt to gain control over cyber activities of Internet users in Iran. However, proxy servers are commonly used in Iran which enables many users to have access to social media. Then, the question is how new technologies challenge governments’ control over citizens’ activities in online space. Moreover, the argument about creation of online culture of dissent/resistance does not refer to the national territories/borders.

Best,
Gilda

Litter merkelig at Seddighi skriver så rosende om nettet men ikke nevner at Iran har oppført en filtermur som de kaller Halal-nett:

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/03/world/meast/iran-internet-restrictions-halal-internet/

Many are reporting international websites and online services, including Gmail and Skype, are often blocked and circumvention tools effectively squashed, making it difficult to communicate with anyone outside the country.
National websites are still easily accessed, but as internet speeds slow to a crawl, many of the country’s netizens are finding access to even the most rudimentary URLs barred — including those belonging to banks and local businesses.