Twitter used to combat limited press freedom in Iran

Iran\'s leadership is growing increasingly sensitive to international press on the election protests, with foreign journalists being ordered out and mobile phone networks and newspapers being shut down, according to a report on www.3news.co.nz.



Social networking sites like Twitter have become a key resource for young protestors to communicate and discuss the turmoil in Iran, as a result of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad\'s re-election to power.



Kevin Anderson, The Guardian Digital Research Editor, says the Internet has helped break the oppressive control previous political regimes had over reporting.



\"You\'re seeing it become more and more difficult for regimes, they used to keep an incredibly tight control on information, and are now losing that control. So in the past, this (the Iran protests) would have been airbrushed out of history, but now you\'ve got real time reporting from people on the streets, showing pictures, showing the violence,\" he says.



A lot of the information known about the fighting in Iran has been made public through the social networking site Twitter - through a feed called \'Persiankiwi\'. The feed has thousand of followers, including opposition candidate Mr. Hossein Mousazi.



Persiankiwi is being used to plan protests and pass on news of the spreading violence to family overseas.



Ali Sherazi, an Iranian living in the Britain, says the Internet has helped him to receive up to the minute reports on the Iran protests.



\"I think it is significant, without the technology we wouldn\'t be able to get such accurate and quick news from Iran. What ever happens there in Iran, maybe half and hour later, the people receive in this side of the world,\" he says.



The Iranian authorities have responded to such freedoms by banning foreign media.



Security forces have also shut down mobile networks and large parts of the Internet, but protestors have been able to get around the bans by setting up secret servers.



Protestors have also gained help from the US government who requested that Twitter delay maintenance to its site, so Iranians have at least one way of communicating.