[Infowarrior] - Technology is a weapon for governments, reformers in Iran, China

[Richard Forno]

Technology is a weapon for governments, reformers in Iran, China

By John Boudreau

Mercury News
Posted: 06/19/2009 12:00:00 PM PDT
Updated: 06/20/2009 05:29:34 PM PDT

http://www.mercurynews.com/valley/ci_12624598

Over recent weeks, world headlines have been filled with tales of the  
promises and the perils of information technology.

In Iran, technology is being celebrated as a powerful democratizing  
force, as activists use Twitter and Facebook to rally opposition to a  
disputed election. But in China, it is being used as a tool of control  
as the government forces PC makers to install software on all new  
machines to block Web sites it does not favor.

After years of predictions that online communication would empower a  
free flow of information no authoritarian government could control,  
world events in recent weeks have underscored that is not always true.  
The weapon of those who oppose repressive regimes is also one  
governments can use to silence opponents.

Silicon Valley tech companies, widely admired for providing a global  
megaphone to those who advocate liberties, are also sometimes eyed  
suspiciously by activists who accuse them of complicity with  
authoritarian governments.

"It's a very fierce information warfare over the Internet," said  
Samuel Zhou, deputy director of the Global Internet Freedom  
Consortium, a group of five companies that creates software to help  
Internet users work around online roadblocks erected by the Chinese  
government. "The censorship technology from Beijing and our anti- 
censorship technology are developed in a competitive way."

Google, Yahoo and Cisco Systems have been pressured by Congress to do  
more to
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protect user privacy and fight censorship overseas. In 2007, Yahoo  
settled a lawsuit with two pro-democracy Chinese journalists, Shi Tao  
and Wang Xiaoning, who were sent to jail after Chinese authorities  
demanded and received information about their online activities from  
the Sunnyvale Internet giant.

The Global Network Initiative, a group that includes Yahoo, Google,  
Microsoft and academic and human rights organizations, endorsed a code  
of ethics last year that commits companies to "respect, protect and  
advance user rights to freedom of expression and privacy" in the face  
of government pressure for censorship and to disclose users' personal  
information. Organizers hope to recruit other companies, such as Cisco  
Systems and Hewlett-Packard.

Every day, technological battles are fought between those who erect  
Internet barricades and those punching holes in them.

"It's a cat-and-mouse game," said Zhou, whose anti-censorship  
consortium, which also helps people in other countries, particularly  
Iran in recent days, just released software to counter China's so- 
called Green Dam-Youth Escort software.

The software is designed to block certain Web sites with content  
ranging from pornography to taboo political topics like independence  
for Tibet and Taiwan. It has caused a global uproar and, according to  
University of Michigan researchers, will expose Chinese PC users to  
information-stealing malware.

There are risks to heavy-handed moves by governments, said Clay  
Shirky, a professor at New York University's Graduate Interactive  
Telecommunications Program. Shutting down a service that plays an  
important role in daily lives and business, from text-messaging to  
Google Earth, could be so disruptive to society the government could  
unwittingly radicalize a much larger group of people, he said.

"Governments rely on apathy," Shirky said. "Anything that makes a  
large section of the population start to care risks losing the apathy  
required for them to continue to govern. The real threat is when the  
population that is on the sidelines starts to side with the students."

In Iran, protesters have requested news through Facebook about  
demonstrations outside the country held in support of their cause,  
said Niloofar Nafici, a Facebook employee with family in the country.

"When they go out onto the streets, they know they are not alone in  
their message," she said.

On Friday, Google and Facebook announced they are offering services in  
Farsi to meet the demand for more communications about the protests  
surrounding the disputed June 12 election. The Iranian government has  
expelled Western journalists or significantly limited their ability to  
report on the escalating tensions in Tehran.

"Ten, eight years ago, all the government had to do was shut down  
three newspapers. Now they have tens of thousands of reporters who are  
talking about what is going on," said Shayan Zadeh, co-CEO of San  
Francisco social dating network Zoosk. He left Iran nine years ago and  
is keeping in touch with events there through Facebook. "It's a lot  
harder to contain information than ever before."

The Iranian government is working to block sites such as Facebook,  
though it's unclear how effective it has been.

China, so far, has been successful at tamping down dissent it views as  
threatening. Its vibrant blogosphere has more freedom to criticize the  
government and courts in some circumstances, but no one has come close  
to launching an opposition party, said Rebecca MacKinnon, an expert on  
Internet freedoms at the University of Hong Kong and a former CNN  
Beijing bureau chief.

"If they talk about regime change or go after leaders, they still go  
to jail," she said. "You don't see democratization. The courts are no  
more independent of the Communist Party than they were 10 years ago.  
You have no progress toward representative government."

Contact John Boudreau at jboudreau at mercurynews.com or 408-278-3496.