Human rights and Technology

For the sake of this class I have been more alert to watching stories that pop-up on my news feed that are tech related (it has always been the archeology until now). I have posted several articles that deal with the unique set of problems that a wired world creates (the laptops taking still photos in homes, the menacing Facebook stalkers, my undying love of all things mac). However, this article addresses an interesting issue with the technologically connected world. Before reading this I was not aware that the US had blacklisted several countries and had stopped the flow of social networking software into these countries. I was one of the people who followed the Iranian elections and following protests on my Twitter (one of the only times I have used it regularly before this class) and was moved my the stories and images that were pouring out of Iran and the responses from the world. Twitter allowed, if only for a few days, the rest of the world to feel as if they are there in the conflict with a constant stream of information and communication. I was shocked when I learned from this article that Iran is one of the black listed countries and that we almost didn't have the chance to learn from all of the Iranians that were brave enough to keep posting, even when the police squads were searching homes for Tweeters and shutting down ISP hubs to stop the flow of information. The internet and social networking sites are working to make the world more of a true "global village" and by finally allowing these countries the right to join in this flow of information and culture is a big step in the right direction.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100308/pl_afp/usirancubasudandiplomacyitinternettechnology