Assessing the Role of Twitter in Iran Protests

Iranian Blogosphere Mapped

Here’s an interesting item from MIS Financial Review.

The head of new media for Middle East broadcaster and news service Al Jazeera, Moeed Ahmad, has poured cold water on the much-hyped role of Twitter as the technology that started a grass-roots revolution in Iran.

It seems a torrent of on-the-ground Tweets simply doesn’t add up.

Speaking at the Media 2010 conference in Sydney on Friday, Mr Ahmad said that fact checking by his news agency over the period of disturbances in Tehran could verify just 60 Twitter accounts actually in the city – a number that fell to just six after communications were cut.

The role of Twitter in the protests has certainly been overstated. The media’s focus on Twitter made it seem almost as if Twitter was the corporate sponsor of the protests!
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Academic Freedom Media Review, September 25-October 2, 2009

The Academic Freedom Media Review is a collection of articles compiled weekly by Scholars at Risk. This is the review for September 25 – October 2, 2009.

UWO joins effort to protect scholars
Chip Martin, London Free Press, 10/1

Peruvian Academic Receives Death Threats
NEAR, 10/1

Israeli Court Says University Bowed to Chinese Pressure in Closing Exhibit
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/1

Saudi cleric to king’s university: don’t teach evolution, mix sexes
Asma Alsharif, Reuters FaithWorld Blog, 10/1

Calvin College Faculty Asks Trustees to Withdraw Memo Against Gay Advocacy
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/1

Government threatened grant agency over Mideast conference
Anne McIlroy, Globe and Mail, 9/30
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New Saudi University Draws Criticism from High-Level Cleric
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/30

St. Louis U. Blocks David Horowitz Event
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Education, 9/29

LEBANON: Scholar angry at NATO after invitation to speak
Meris Lutz, The Los Angeles Times, 9/29

Tehran students protest on campus
BBC, 9/28

Venezuelan students keep up hunger strike
Reuters, 9/28

Universities in Philippines Close to Assist in Relief Efforts After Storm-Driven Floods
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/27