Civil Society Watch
How do you sanitize the Internet?
Board member Fred Petrossians, writing for Global Voices discusses rumors and plans for total control of the internet by the Iranian state: Iranian authorities see the internet as a real battleground and consider citizen media and social networking as tools of
UN Calls for Access for Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran
Originally published by United4Iran. The UN General Assembly’s Third Committee today adopted a resolution (PDF) calling on the Iranian Government to allow unfettered access to the country by the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, Dr.
Persistent Punishments and an Erosion of Civil Rights
The report of the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran shows a concerted effort to prevent dissent and the development of an independent civil society.
Remembering Wangari Maathai, I Will Be a Hummingbird
“I have always believed that, no matter how dark the cloud, there is always a thin, silver lining, and that is what we must look for.” – Prof. Wangari Maathai Arseh Sevom remembers the Nobel Prize winning activist, Prof. Wangari Maathai who died recently of ov
Was Your Gmail Account Safe?
More than 300,000 Iranians have had their Gmail accounts compromised. From the report by the investigative firm Fox-IT, the security firm hired to investigate the stolen DigiNotar security certificates, it is clear that as early as July 28, the company was awa
Cultural Censorship in Iran
The Small Media Foundation has published the report, Cultural Censorship in Iran: Iranian Culture in a State of Emergency. This report looks at government pressure on and censorship of publishing, music, theater, and film, demonstrating an increase since the d
Protests in Iran spurred by Disappearing Lake
Update: Radio Farda reports that the Parliament in Iran has budget up to $900 million to address the problem. Six months ago, environmental activists in Iran starting sounding the alarm about the state of Lake Orumiyeh (Urmia). Many began posting about Lake Or
Man in Middle Attacks Dangerous in Iran – Part 2
به زبان فارسی UPDATE: Google and Mozilla have revoked more than 200 security certificates as a result of a hack into the accounts of certificate authority, DigiNotar. WARNING: Tor, Yahoo, and Mozilla were among the targets. WHAT THIS MEANS: If you are in using
Man in the Middle: Google Becomes Dangerous in Iran
It all began with a simple message. An Iranian internet user was trying to connect to Google using the Chrome browser. Strangely enough, his browser flashed a message telling him that the security certificate he was using to access Google was not theirs. The u