Increased News and Social Media Accessibility Following Iran’s Election
Herdict data from Iran indicates increasing accessibility of news and social media websites following the country’s June 15 election. Iran was public about its attempts to limit coverage of the election and limit Internet speeds in the period of time leading up to election day. Examination of Herdict data offers some insight into the kinds of sites that were restricted prior to the election, and the easing of those restrictions in the weeks that followed.
Once challenge in interpreting Herdict data is that care must be used in separating changes in reporting behaviors (more reports) from changes in access (more inaccessible or accessible reports). In many cases making that distinction is impossible. However, on June 10, June 16, and June 25, Herdict received a comparable amount of accessible reports on each day, enabling us to engaged in more detailed comparisons. Analysis of data from these three comparable days (one prior to the election and two after) shows an increase in the number of accessible reports for Iranian and global news sites as well as social media websites and a decrease in inaccessible reports for global news and social media sites.
Accessible reports for Iranian news websites almost quadrupled between June 10 and June 25. Herdict collected reports for Farsi News, Gooya News, Iran News Network, Iranian Labour News Agency, Islamic Republic News Agency, Mashregh News, Mehr News, and Meyar News. The majority of inaccessible reports on June 16 came from Meyar News (9 reports).
Iranian News Website Reports
|
Accessible |
Inaccessible |
|
|
June 10 |
14 |
3 |
|
June 16 |
44 |
16 |
|
June 25 |
53 |
3 |
Accessible reports for global news websites also increased after the election, and inaccessible reports decreased. Herdict collected reports for BBC and BBC Persian, CNN, Global Voices, and the Voice of America.
Global News Websites
|
Accessible |
Inaccessible |
|
|
June 10 |
3 |
15 |
|
June 16 |
4 |
5 |
|
June 25 |
9 |
4 |
Social media sites showed a similar increase in accessible reports and a decrease in inaccessible reports following the election. The Iranian social networking site Cloob.com was reported inaccessible on June 10 and accessible on June 16. Interestingly, various Twitter pages (Twitter Blog, Twitter for Business, Twitter for Developers, Twitter Media, Twitter for Mobile, Twitter Help Center, and Twitter Status, and the homepage) were reported accessible from Iran, despite the country’s ban of the site. Most inaccessible reports following the election came from Facebook. Herdict also collected reports for LinkedIn, Reddit, and YouTube.
Social Media Website Reports
|
Accessible |
Inaccessible |
|
|
June 10 |
8 |
35 |
|
June 16 |
9 |
16 |
|
June 25 |
18 |
3 |
Since winning the vote President-elect Hassan Rouhani has advocated for loosening Iran’s control over the Internet, calling government filtering during the country’s 2009 election ineffective.
About the Author: Priya Kumar
Priya is a summer 2013 intern at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society. She studies data storytelling at the University of Michigan School of Information.
Steven:
This is excellent news for the citizens of Iran and a powerful early move in Hassan Rouhani’s presidential career.
July 23rd, 2013 at 1:41 pm | | Author Link:
Otelplus Otelleri:
He told me he had received a call from the Ministry of Intelligence, and this guy when he went to the interrogation, they put in front of him printed copies of his chats with me. He said he was dumbfounded, and he was sent to prison.
July 27th, 2013 at 4:26 am | | Author Link:
Iran News:
National Council of Resistance of Iran, a broad coalition of democratic Iranian organizations, groups, and personalities, was founded in 1981 in Tehran, Iran on the initiative of Massoud Rajavi, the leader of the Iranian Resistance.
July 27th, 2013 at 2:51 pm | | Author Link:
Brankas Solo:
Nice Posting!
love you priya kumar!
July 30th, 2013 at 1:00 pm | | Author Link:
Janine:
Interesting, a positive trend to be sure. Will it hold?
September 4th, 2013 at 8:41 am | | Author Link: