He who controls Arakis, controls the Spice, and he who controls the Spice, controls the Universe!
- Baron Vladimir Harkonnen
(Dune, Frank Herbert)

And right now, in Iran, information is the Spice. It is being controlled by the regime, on just about all fronts. They've jammed incoming news from the outside world, both free broadcast and satellite. They've stepped up efforts to confiscate personal satellite dishes. They've intimidated or warned off foreign media representatives in the country, and moved to shut down almost all print media sources within the country not regurgitating faithfully the line of the mullahs. They've blocked or restricted access to the internet, and its wealth of resources. Just prior to nightfall on the 9th, they shut down or disrupted the cell phone networks in at least Tehran, probably disrupting a major means of inter coordination between potential leaders of any demonstrations.

And we saw the immediate results. Only brief snatches of stories - only hints of the beginnings of gatherings. While the pundits may critique the content of the story filed by Muir of the BBC, it was practically the only credited byline to come out of Iran to the West on the 9th, other than the story the regime wanted to let be publicized - the statement by the student leaders calling the whole thing off. Can we know for sure if there really was not a lot to report, or if the intimidation or threats against the foriegn journalists was heeded by all save Muir?

Fomentation of confusion, suppression of words and news that could spread like sparks amongst dry timbers. The distractions readily on display, in the form of the pushed stories of the fate of the conjoined twins, and ElBaradei's visit and discussions.

The handling of the media and the information coming from Baghdad for the last few months of the Ba'athist regime was at once inelegant, with some loathsome aspects, such as the discovery of major media outfits trading the truth of the story for continued access 'on the scene'. But the shaping of the story at the hands of Baghdad Bob is certainly amateurish compared to the coordinated, and largely successful manipulation, at a variety of levels, currently taking place in Iran. For a bunch that many would easily write off as longing for the joys of the 6th Century, the regime of the mullahs has shown a tremendous capability and understanding of the means, methodologies, and value of controlling the flow of information into and out of Iran.

And the steps that they've taken, as mentioned above, have had the desired effect, for now. In the West, the impression has been given that the movement to overthrow the regime is not at or even near the point of boiling over, due to the lack of anticipated anarchy and chaos on the 9th. This is partly due to the lack of western media to pick the story up and run with it, but consider, what was there really to pick up and run with? Not much. There were gatherings, and there were clashes. But the reporting of those events did not take place - to neither serve as a catalyst or call for other Iranians that the time had arrived, nor for the world to watch intently. By shutting off the informational flow, the regime effectively contained the sparks, preventing the situation from reaching a point of volatility.

Which may be just as well. By all accounts, the regime was alert and ready for trouble, and the results could have been very, very costly for the Iranian people.

The causes for discontent have not gone away. The circumstance has not substantially changed. It will flare again.

In the meantime, work must be done to circumvent, to defeat, the regime's absolute hold on information. While they are savvy to the means and methods, Iran is in a much more advanced state than Iraq, and the avenues for the flow of information much more numerous, and therefore much harder to completely control.

Jeff Jarvis has a key piece of the puzzle, when he mentions that weblogger contacts have built bridges of understanding, and avenues of conversation. The potential of the net to serve as a conduit for the words, dreams, desires and hopes of the people of Iran has not yet even begun to be exploited for the purpose of resisting, and potentially bringing down the regime, despite outward appearances.

A lot of self pride was expressed following previous events, heralding the growing influence and importance of this thing we call blogging. Exposure of the New York Times, the refusal to let go of the Trent Lott story, the shortening of the turn cycle for information coming from Iraq - all great examples of potential. Potential that could be applied, and help stoke the firestorm, to help engulf the despots clutching a country.

Continue the contacts. Build the bridges - and at the same time, set up the back channels, the conduits of information. E-mail, FTP 'dead-drops', any alternate, and obscure path that will be difficult if not impossible to disrupt or deny, without completely pulling the plug on the entire country. There are a lot of ingenious people out there, on both sides of the conversation, and I'm certain some pretty ingenious methods could be arranged.

We need to make it tougher for them to shut us, and their own people up than by simply blocking Blogger and a couple of other sites hosting Iranian Weblogs. They want to hold onto power - and we should do everything - however limited - at our disposal, to make that as tough for them as possible.

Posted By Wind Rider at July 10, 2003 10:51 PM | TrackBack