Iranian Election and US “Cyber Warriors”

During dinner we were watching the news and a short segment came on regarding the Iranian Election. For those that haven’t been following the news on the issue, things are getting rough out there. The incumbent president has stolen the election and the streets of Tehran are filled with protestors asking “Where is my vote?”. People are being arrested and even killed, yet the protestors are trying very hard to be peaceful. I have heard reports today that they gathered in silence in Tehran. One report said you could hear a pin drop. Our entire lives we have heard about “those that fought for our freedoms”, but the words really come to life when you can watch that very thing happen nearly in real-time via services like Twitter and Facebook.

The reason that I wanted to write about this is that a portion of that news segment talked about “cyber warriors” in the US and around the globe that have been working hard poking holes in the Iranian firewalls. The same firewalls the incumbent president is using to try and limit communication outside the country. According to reports from protesters inside the country he has blocked access to sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and similar sites that these people might use to communicate with the outside world. It is only through the work of these outside volunteers that they have been able to share their stories and continue to coordinate and plan their rallies.

I couldn’t help but feel a real sense of pride hearing about this on the national news. Why? For the last few days I have been one of those volunteers. I have been forwarding information via Twitter. I have created two proxy servers (a proxy server is a service that can mask the source of an internet connection, effectively unblocking these blocked services) for these protesters to use. I have even published instructions on how others might do the same thing.

While I am not educated on the issues facing Iran, or the political stances of the candidates I do support the freedom of the citizens to decide who they want to lead them. I am pro-freedom of choice, not pro-candidate.

I felt like I should document this today. I want my children to know someday that their Father was a part of something like this. This entire situation feels very historic and, depending on the outcome, could become even more so. I hope the people of Iran are able to gain increased freedom as a people and I applaud those around the world who are helping to make that happen.