A year ago this week, June 12, 2009, Iran's tenth presidential election erupted in controversy and led to a firestorm of protest.  Accusations of voting irregularities surfaced immediately against the re-elected incumbent, and a Sea of Green began flowing in opposition to what many thought was a stolen election.  

The Iranian government's abrupt expulsion of foreign journalists and extreme censorship of the Internet created enormous challenges for news reporting.  Suddenly, ordinary Irani citizens armed only with cell phones and computers were getting still photos, video and information out of the country by posting to social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, while Twitter users in other countries were broadcasting those items for wider viewing and reporting news back to the citizens of Iran to keep them informed.  This handicapped the mainstream media, which had to increasingly rely on unvetted information coming out of Iran, but kept a movement alive.

I was one of many watching from Twitter as the revolution unfolded, one of many who found our lives permanently altered by the state of events occurring a world away.  We began reading and screening as many tweets as we could coming out of Iran during that time and retweeting and redistributing them for wider viewing with identifying hashtags like #iranelection and #Neda.  For some of us, this became a dedicated effort of several hours a day, often involving amateur translation with the assistance of Google Translate's swiftly launched Persian alpha program.  Information would move quickly from Twitter to regular blogging sites and mainstream media.

I worked with and closely observed many fellow microbloggers on Twitter during that time who were passionately involved in the process, none more so than Michi (@cbn2 on Twitter), a graduate in political science and speech communications from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign who did graduate work in diplomatic relations through the University of Vienna.  Among other things, she has worked as an interpreter for the international children's programs administered by the United Nations in Vienna and has also been a union president for several years.  Michi lives a world away from Iran on an island in Southeast Alaska's Inside Passage.   

 As the anniversary of the Iran election approaches, Michi graciously agreed to chat with me on the topic of the Iran election protests and what came to be known as the Twitter revolution.    

 

Were you paying attention to the election in Iran and surrounding politics last June before controversy erupted?

Yes, I was actively paying attention to the election in Iran for several weeks before the election. 

 

How did you become involved in the post-election action on Twitter?

I was following the news from Iran throughout election day, and was astonished when Ahmadinejad was almost instantaneously announced the winner by such a large margin. Voters were still in line and tens of millions of votes had yet to be hand counted. Also, images were soon posted - screen grabs from PressTV - which showed Ahmadinejad’s opponents LOST votes as time went on. It was such an obvious case of clumsily rigged election fraud, which was part of why I was shocked. My family's originally from the DDR, former East Germany, so of course I understand rigged elections: but of 450 applicants, only these 4 candidates were approved initially. It seemed remarkably clueless on the regime's part to overtly countermand the electoral process. The theocratic regime already has so much control. Only the president is democratically elected, and in truth, he wields a modicum of power when compared to the Supreme Leader. Those four candidates had been selected and pre-approved. It seemed like a needless affront to the will of the people to take even this fragment of democracy away.

 

What did you do to help get information either out of Iran or into it during that time?

I'd already had some contacts via Twitter. Using media search tools, such as Lexus-Nexus, I read international press reports in English and German and searched for their named sources on Twitter. I began following a large set of political activists in Iran, professional print and broadcast journalists from a variety of countries and others around the world who were trying to compile and share information. 

 

What was your biggest frustration?

The most frustrating thing was watching helplessly as the Iranian regime censored, imprisoned, tortured and killed people who were so bravely fighting for rights many of us in America take for granted. The courage of the Iranian people is really admirable, but the Supreme Leader, who’s supposed to be apolitical and above the fray, specifically targeted them. He made it clear that the electoral corruption went all the way to the top. 

 

Were you frustrated with the coverage of the #iranelection in the mainstream media?  Do you think Twitter impacted how they were covering the news?

Yes. I think the mainstream media is used to choosing what its audience will see reported. In this case, the mainstream media was led throughout by the social networking sites like Twitter. At first, very little coverage was granted to #iranelection, and it was an early tribute to the power of Twitter that pressure put on CNN through a concerted hashtag campaign eventually brought more coverage. Still, the mainstream media has a shorter, more superficial attention span than its audience does. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that the mainstream media has a condescending perception of our attention span. People were still very much focused on #iranelection issues when Michael Jackson died, but that turned out to be the MSM’s news shift. For many days, every detail of Jackson’s death was covered. It seemed as if the media had made the decision to pretend events in Iran were no longer ongoing, under the pretext that the minutiae of Jackson’s death would somehow effect more people’s lives. (I ask you, which will affect the future more? A potential strong democracy in the Middle East, with secular respect for individual rights, or the route driven by the hearse of a fallen celebrity?) After that, with very little exception, the news coverage of Iran was under the purview of social media. 

 

How did you see Twitter and other branches of social media and the Internet changing the face of what was happening in the post-election unrest in Iran?

Absolutely, because Twitter and YouTube were very difficult for the Iranian regime to control. Although professional journalists were limited to their hotel rooms or expelled from the country, all Iranian citizens were potential reporters.

 

How did you gauge what to trust and what not to trust coming through Twitter at that time?

Many comments were specific in reporting events, and often these tweets came hours before the news was officially announced through networks. Over time, it became clear some contacts were very accurate in what they described. These were the contacts I learned to trust. 

 

Did you feel mostly isolated in that process, or did you find it to be cooperative?

I wished there was more I could do. Because I live in a geographically remote place in Alaska, the ways I could help were limited. I'm used to feeling isolated, because in reality, I am. No roads connect this island to any other place in the world. However, I was still able to contact ThePlanet.com and help put pressure on them, as an American company, to stop hosting sites that were targeting protesters. And I could still act as a courier of information, which was my main task. This is the truth of the modern world: we are ALL in a position to help one another.

As far as social isolation, no, it was really the opposite. Early on, I decided to devote my free time to this one topic, because, frankly, I think it's of enormous importance to potential peace and prosperity for millions of people. I thought I might lose contacts on Twitter, that people might grow weary of seeing hundreds of tweets continually on one topic. The opposite happened, because so many people understood the crucial relevance just as I did. The interesting thing about the process is that support for Iranians was strong throughout the international political continuum. Some things aren't "liberal" or "conservative" issues, they are human issues. #iranelection clearly transcends many political affiliations.  

 

At its height, how much of your involvement on Twitter pertained to #iranelection? 

For months, about 95% of my online time pertained to the #iranelection. 

 

Did you ever feel your own safety was in jeopardy because of your involvement?

I had a hacker friend install better security systems and was then also able to monitor any outside attempts to infiltrate my computer. Sure enough, there were several. That said, the answer is still NO. Compared to the people in Iran who risk their lives to get information out, there’s no risk to me. (And you know what they say about Alaska: there are more weapons than mammals in most households. My neighborhood is no exception.) 

 

How did Google introducing Persian alpha on Google translate affect what you were tweeting, if at all?

Yes, that was very helpful and I think many people really appreciated Google’s efforts there. It helped shrink the communication divide. We could get the gist of alpha Persian blogs, etc., and vice versa. 

 

Did you do all this to advance a particular candidate, or was it a larger human rights issue for you?

No, I don’t support any particular candidate, because Iran is not my country. I do support Iranians’ right to select their candidate in a fair electoral process. Their constitution gives them that right. Protesters were doing nothing illegal, even by the written laws of the Islamic Republic. They were employing non-violent protest techniques very similar to methods used by MLK and Gandhi. They were initially asking for a recount and then, when it became clear a larger number of ballots had already been destroyed, they were asking for another vote. For requesting rights guaranteed to them by their constitution, they were threatened, beaten, tortured, imprisoned and killed. The regime’s efforts to vilify innocent people in despotic show trials fooled no one.

Something that made a lasting impression on me is that fact that the Iranian people held one of the largest vigils in the world in support of the American people soon after 9/11. Thirty thousand people, many of them students from Tehran University, walked in solidarity with Americans. I know our two governments are at odds – understandably so – but Iranians clearly demonstrate a respect for democratic rights. Millions of people in our two cultures have a lot in common.

Also, I empathize with people seeking greater freedom. My family escaped from East Germany, leaving belongings and loved ones behind and risking everything. Later, when the Berlin Wall fell, well, it was an unforeseen event that morphed me into a political optimist. I still can’t quite put that overwhelming sense of freedom into words. However, the last major East German political protest had been in 1953. It was summarily shut down and ignored by most of the world. So, it took 36 years, about half an average lifetime, for the people to get their long-sought freedom. In the meantime, much of the West mistakenly thought people behind the Iron Curtain accepted their fate. The situation is different in Iran. The Iranian protesters have repeatedly made their desires clear. They don’t accept the fraud perpetrated upon them.

 

How did you continue to stay involved in supporting the process over time?

This is actually very easy. I’ve maintained all these contacts and have #iranelection as a perpetual search column on TweetDeck. Often, the hashtags will change in accordance to specifics days or events, but they’re easy to see through the parent search. 

 

What do you think has changed irreversibly because of Twitter's involvement in the events surrounding the #iranelection?

I think people in many countries outside Iran have established bonds with the Iranian people. Stereotypes and misunderstandings have been stripped away. Also, #iranelection has demonstrated the power of social networking – direct links between people that can’t be censored – as effective media and mass communication. I imagine authoritarian governments around the world took notice of this, and the threat it poses to their power has probably kept some of them awake at night. 

 

How have you been changed by this process? 

I’ve felt the combined strength of good people across cultures working together in common support of human rights. I’ve made some amazing, courageous friends. Some of these people, who were truly valiant in their efforts to inform the world about what was happening, have since disappeared. I’ve heard several reports that at least one of them was sent to Evin, the infamous prison for protesters in Iran. A person can’t help but be changed by witnessing such stark courage and its consequences. Yet, people continue to bravely fight for their rights. Paying attention is the very least we can do.

 

Are you optimistic for the future of Iran and its people? 

I am completely certain that it is simply a matter of time until the Iranian people get the democratic rights they so richly deserve. Cruel and corrupt officials may stall the process, but the people will eventually triumph. I know this because the Iranian people have clearly shown an indomitable spirit. They’re smart, witty, courageous, determined and patient people. Khamenei’s old and his son is mistrusted. I’m not sure what event will provoke the end of this regime, but it will end, inevitably.

 

 

 

(photo of Southeast Alaska and Twitter profile photo courtesy the author) 

 

The Iran election was a major step in citizen journalism.  Some people on Twitter (and I followed you closely during that crisis) had breaking news prior to it being released on traditional news outlets.  I think people realized the impact of Twitter, that it was possible to connect to people in the midst of crisis.  The theory always has been that the Internet could surmount geopolitical borders.  Twitter did it in real time.  ~ Catherine Forsythe, blogger (@DogReader)

Covering the aftermath of the Iran election from a U.S. politics point of view (Neda, McCain, Obama), I saw more impact from cell phone pictures and video.  It was another means to spread the word that was hard for governments to control, all good. ~ Andrew Malcolm, Los Angeles Times Top of the Ticket (@latimestot)

I was thrilled and amazed to witness the impact of Twitter on the Iran revolution.  I felt Twitter was doing something positive. ~ liza Donnelly, New Yorker cartoonist (@lizadonnelly)

 

For an index to all my articles on Iran and Neda, see:  On the One-Year Anniversary:  A Year of Iran and Neda