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Online Journalism News

US web host dumps Iranian news site

Posted: 27/01/05 By: Jemima Kiss
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Press freedom group Reporters San Frontières (RSF) is demanding to know why US web hosting firm the Planet terminated its contract with the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA).

ISNA received an email the Planet stating that the site would be pulled within 48 hours. The Planet gave no reason for the termination and said the decision was final and non-negotiable.

ISNA has since changed host, but RSF suspects a political motive and expects further pressure will be put on US firms to end relations with Iran.

RSF has written to the Planet to ask for a full explanation but the web host has told the group not to expect an answer.

"The internet has opened a whole new world to Iranians, and blogs have a great role in this.

"They have given voices to many political and social minorities."

Hossein Derakhshan, Iranian blogger

In its letter to the Planet, RSF said that as web users in Iran already battle against government censorship, US firms should show respect for the principles of free expression.

The internet has inspired a new wave of alternative news and comment in Iran, according to prominent Iranian blogger Hossein Derakhshan.

"The internet has opened a whole new world to Iranians, and because blogs make up almost 90 percent of Persian web content they have a great role in this," he said.

"They have given voices to many political and social minorities."

Mr Derakhshan publishes several sites, including the Editor:Myself blog on Iran, technology and pop culture and Stop Censoring Us. His Persian-language blog attracts more than 7,000 visitors every day and has helped to encourage free speech - particularly among young Iranians.

"They are much more self-expressive and tolerant than their parents and maybe that's why they've embraced blogs so eagerly," he told dotJournalism.

Many exiled journalists and writers are now using the web to reach their former readers within Iran, and Mr Derakhshan claims that some blogs have higher readership than daily newspapers in Tehran, Iran's capital.

Mr Derakhshan is working to develop a new non-governmental organisation called Rear Window Initiative, which will promote free speech and democracy online.

"Free speech can change many realities in Iran and it is even capable of
changing the attitudes of the regime," said Mr Derakhshan.

"Regimes would behave differently if their people knew more."

• Journalist Arash Sigarchi was arrested on 17 January for his 'Window of Anguish' blog, which was banned within Iran. Mr Sigarchi had criticised the authorities and the arrest of journalists and bloggers. RSF reports that he has been refused access to a lawyer and that his mother has been under pressure to deny his arrest. He is believed to be the sixth blogger arrested in Iran since October 2004.

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