Tehran’s lost connection
During last year’s election turmoil in Tehran, the Iranian regime’s biggest foe often seemed to be 21st-century technology. While the regime cracked down on supporters of opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi — the so-called Green Movement — with decidedly pre-Web 2.0 tools like truncheons and tear gas, protesters used Twitter, YouTube, and other Web-based applications ...
During last year's election turmoil in Tehran, the Iranian regime's biggest foe often seemed to be 21st-century technology. While the regime cracked down on supporters of opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi -- the so-called Green Movement -- with decidedly pre-Web 2.0 tools like truncheons and tear gas, protesters used Twitter, YouTube, and other Web-based applications to publicize their cause, and the regime's brutal response, to the rest of the world. A year later, however, Iranian dissidents' techno-euphoria is mostly a thing of the past.
Geneive Abdo is a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center. Twitter: @AbdoGeneive
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