COVID-19 is a really big deal these days. And when a potential pandemic is on your doorstep, it usually is a good idea to get as much information out there to stop panic from setting in. However Iran doesn’t see things like that according to Motherboard:
Moments after Iran announced that a top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader had died as a result of the coronavirus, the government blocked access to the Persian version of Wikipedia.
The restrictions remained in place for 24 hours, though an oversight by the government meant that while the desktop version of the site was blocked, the mobile version remained available.
Access to the Farsi version of Wikipedia was restored on Tuesday, but social media sites like Twitter and Facebook remain restricted inside the country as of Wednesday, as the government seeks to control the spread of information and keep a grip on the narrative around the increasingly deadly outbreak.
Charming. But this is in line with dictatorships like Iran who see cutting off Internet access in whole or in part as a great way to maintain control. Except it isn’t a great way to maintain control because:
- I’m writing a story on this right now which brings attention to their behavior.
- It’s a safe bet that people are circumventing blocks like this which means it’s ineffective.
- It makes the regime in Iran look like they have something to hide. Like a higher COVID-19 death toll for example.
In other words, they just illustrated the Streisand Effect. Which is if you try to hide something, all it does is bring more attention to it. Which makes their efforts a #Fail.
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This entry was posted on March 6, 2020 at 8:48 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Iran. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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How Does Iran Deal With A COVID-19 Outbreak? Cut Off Internet Access Of Course
COVID-19 is a really big deal these days. And when a potential pandemic is on your doorstep, it usually is a good idea to get as much information out there to stop panic from setting in. However Iran doesn’t see things like that according to Motherboard:
Moments after Iran announced that a top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader had died as a result of the coronavirus, the government blocked access to the Persian version of Wikipedia.
The restrictions remained in place for 24 hours, though an oversight by the government meant that while the desktop version of the site was blocked, the mobile version remained available.
Access to the Farsi version of Wikipedia was restored on Tuesday, but social media sites like Twitter and Facebook remain restricted inside the country as of Wednesday, as the government seeks to control the spread of information and keep a grip on the narrative around the increasingly deadly outbreak.
Charming. But this is in line with dictatorships like Iran who see cutting off Internet access in whole or in part as a great way to maintain control. Except it isn’t a great way to maintain control because:
In other words, they just illustrated the Streisand Effect. Which is if you try to hide something, all it does is bring more attention to it. Which makes their efforts a #Fail.
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This entry was posted on March 6, 2020 at 8:48 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Iran. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.