Something out of the ordinary is going on in Iran today as the information coming out via Twitter and other sources has slowed to a trickle with very little substantive information. At first I thought that maybe I was missing something but even CNN, with their fully decked out Iran desk, confirmed my suspicions:
"The Internet communications that CNN monitors to determine what is
happening in Iran, where the government has imposed severe restrictions
on international journalists, appeared to have slowed Thursday. It was
not clear whether that was because there was less activity or because
the government was blocking access."
The Iranian Twitter, Persiankiwi,
that I have quoted here the last two days is one of the most followed both inside and outside of Iran. Many mainstream media outlets were also using him as a key source.
Shockingly he has been off the grid for 24 hours now. In light of his unusual absence, his last three tweets (a tweet is the term for a Twitter message) last night are chilling to re-read:
- "we must go - dont know when we can get internet - they take 1 of us, they will torture and get names - now we must move fast"
- "thank you ppls 4 supporting Sea of Green - pls remember always our martyrs - Allah Akbar - Allah Akbar - Allah Akbar"
- "Allah - you are the creator of all and all must return to you - Allah Akbar"
I have been told that his very last tweet is something that Muslims say before dying which makes his absence all the more frightening. His disappearance has been one of the primary subjects on Twitter today. These are four examples from the newest 25 messages about Persiankiwi that have appeared in the last 15 minutes only. Over the past 24 hours there have been thousands of tweets inquiring about Persiankiwi and wishing him well.
"iheartcards I wonder where @persiankiwi is."
"drpedwards @persiankiwi, the silence is deafening, I hope the gov't will be thwarted in its attempts to silence you and your comrades."
"ladyeclectic Anyone know what's happened to @persiankiwi they haven't posted in over 24 hours... "
About an hour ago, another trusted and much followed source, tweeted: "persiankiwi would often move for better connection, plenty of my contacts have no more than 1 hour each day, so there still could be hope." On the other hand there are some sources reporting that Persiankiwi has been injured, arrested or has escaped from Iran. Of course none of these can be confirmed and they come from sources that are impossible to evaluate.
This one Twitter quoted above was also the subject of much speculation during the day. The message, "??????? confirmed in custody of Basji probably confessing all" was repeated for hours but these rumours were fortunately put to rest by many new messages from the person in question including the one quoted above about Persiankiwi. From the same source it also appears that the night time rooftop chanting is as strong as ever: "Again a night chanting on rooftops of Allah Akbar and Marg bar Dictator..."
There has also been some renewed activity today on the cyberwar front. I noticed an increased amount of traffic warning people of government agents posing as protesters and foreign sympathizers who are directing people to new 'safe' internet connections which are allegedly being tapped by the authorites.
Messages like "Tweet freely in Iran. Bypass govt. censorship. Use for free. Select country Canada at http://tinyurl.com/nzxco5" are being countered by messages like, "Warning: tweets with phrase "select country Canada" are gov agents hunting protestors. Please RT." (RT = 'retweet' meaning to pass along).
Even though it appears that the government may be making significant progress in closing the web loopholes used by the protesters, there are still videos finding their way to the web. Here are a few examples of new videos from yesterday's events that have found their way out today:
http://www.iranianuk.com/article.php?id=38901; http://www.iranianuk.com/article.php?id=38903; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-zUFeoG-L0
Also of interest is a letter from a doctor at a Tehran hospital that has made its way out. The doctor describes the condition and numbers of the wounded and dead which contradicts the claims of the Iranian government. There are also pictures of protests staged by the hospital staff outside the hospital. Brave people indeed!
We will just have to impatiently wait and see what tomorrow brings. As Oxfordgirl commented about two hours ago: "Tense times as Khamenei prepares to speak again at Friday Prayers."
Comments