Iain MacAulay
In countries known to the west to be held under authoritarian control, (Iran and China are the two we are talking about here), citizens are annoying their leaders by logging on to the Internet to exchange "forbidden ideas". And guess what, their respective leaders have discovered that they can do nothing about it.
Figures indicate that nearly 2 million Iranians a day log onto Yahoo chat rooms discussing amongst other things hip hop music and feminism. Not exactly two subjects known to be the most compatible of bedfellows. And of course there is also the "sex" word and anti-government sound offs.
The Iranian government has tried several times to restrict the vast number of web sites that run contrary to the country's fundamentalist leanings. However, with every university and school that is online, they have found they are fighting a losing battle.
Women and teenagers in particular appear to be making the most opportunity to actively use the technology available to discuss subjects that would only ever be aired within the confines of their own homes. "Liberating" is one word that has been used to describe the experience.
But since 1996 the presidency of Iran has tried to reduce restrictions on individual freedoms in the country to promote progress. The inhabitants have either found a way around the other restrictions or just simply ignored them.
In China though, where it is apparently vastly cheaper to log on to the net than it is in America, filters were set up to restrict access to certain "objectionable" sites but it was construed as a largely futile effort. The Internet is now undermining the population's dependence on government-controlled media and has prompted the arrival of "Internet police" who patrol chat rooms and read e-mails. But as was reported last week on this site, with China having such a high number of citizens logging on to the net, it is going to be one hell of a job to police.
Once again the world has become that little bit smaller. And so it will continue.
