The purpose of this guide is to help you participate constructively in the Iranian election protests through twitter.
- Do NOT publicise proxy IP’s over twitter, and especially not using the #iranelection hashtag. Security forces are monitoring this hashtag, and the moment they identify a proxy IP they will block it in Iran. If you are creating new proxies for the Iranian bloggers, DM them to @stopAhmadi or @iran09 and they will distributed them discretely to bloggers in Iran.
- Hashtags, the only two legitimate hashtags being used by bloggers in Iran are #iranelection and #gr88, other hashtag ideas run the risk of diluting the conversation.
- Keep you bull$hit filter up! Security forces are now setting up twitter accounts to spread disinformation by posing as Iranian protesters. Please don’t retweet impetuosly, try to confirm information with reliable sources before retweeting. The legitimate sources are not hard to find and follow.
- Help cover the bloggers: change your twitter settings so that your location is TEHRAN and your time zone is GMT +3.30. Security forces are hunting for bloggers using location and timezone searches. If we all become ‘Iranians’ it becomes much harder to find them.
- Don’t blow their cover! If you discover a genuine source, please don’t publicise their name or location on a website. These bloggers are in REAL danger. Spread the word discretely through your own networks but don’t signpost them to the security forces. People are dying there, for real, please keep that in mind.
- Denial of Service attacks. If you don’t know what you are doing, stay out of this game. Only target those sites the legitimate Iranian bloggers are designating. Be aware that these attacks can have detrimental effects to the network the protesters are relying on. Keep monitoring their traffic to note when you should turn the taps on or off.
- Do spread the (legitimate) word, it works! When the bloggers asked for twitter maintenance to be postponed using the #nomaintenance tag, it had the desired effect. As long as we spread good information, provide moral support to the protesters, and take our lead from the legitimate bloggers, we can make a constructive contribution.
Please remember that this is about the future of the Iranian people, while it might be exciting to get caught up in the flow of participating in a new meme, do not lose sight of what this is really about.
[...] cyberwar guide for helping Iranian protesters. Most generally useful bit: “Help cover the bloggers: change [...]
Victor Serge’s 1926 publication ‘What Everyone Should Know About State Repression ‘ is still useful regarding tactics of provocation, harassment etc.
http://snurl.com/k881j #iranelection
Interesting how ‘new’ activism can benefit from ‘old’ knowledge.
Good value reprint available from AK Press
http://www.akpress.com/2005/items/whateveryradicalshouldknowaboutstate
great article – thanks for sharing!
You can’t write DM to people not following you. how can one forward information to the people who need them?
[...] you are on Twitter and want to help Iranians then this is a MUST READ: #iranelection cyberwar guide for beginners by Esko Reinikaine, Series Navigation«Raw video from today’s Tehran rally [...]
reports of erroneous information relate to sources supposedly at the scene. @persiankiwi appears to be a prominent figure in all of this, with frequent eyewitness reports from the streets of Tehran, yet location software puts this person as hours and hours away from Tehran. Granted, the software may not be perfect, but other twitterers seem to show up where they claim to be. I am with iran all the way, but more damage stands to be done by the herd mentality taking over, and people blindly accepting what they read. Do the real iran a favour, and read tweets critically.
and I am admittedly fairly new to twitter. what does DM mean?
[...] Übersetzung von #iranelection cyberwar guide for beginners [...]
Most reports indicate some votes were ordered to be recounted. Not all. Unacceptable to Moussavi.
German translation of the text here: http://tinyurl.com/l2pcyl
Tank you
[...] Twitter to spread the word about the Iranian elections and it’s supposed rigging of the votes #iranelection cyberwar guide for beginners __________________ ALWAYS MOVIN’ FORWARD NEVA BACKWARDS!!! My other car is a Bentley [...]
[...] Read the original post: #iranelection cyberwar guide for beginners [...]
[...] A similar point is made by blogger Esko Reinikainen in his guide to cyberwar. [...]
It’s not about the loss. It’s what came after that has people rioting.
Great post. I dont understand the proxy stuff. would appreciate more info in order to help more. Can anyone set up proxy server?
@bkdsystm:
DM means direct message.
You can DM someone that’s following you, using the link in the right-hand bar under ‘actions’. Only the receiver can read your message.
More twitter words at http://www.twittonary.com/
Accepting that Ahmadinejad could have actually won is not accepting democracy. It is being totally naive and misinformed. Mousavi is not only the rich elite’s favorite. He is not only favored by the middle class but also most of those who live under the poverty line, thanks to Ahamdinejad’s less than dismal management of the economy.
One with a free mind and only basic information about Iran would never believe that Ahmadinejad could win a landslide victory.
popurls.com // popular today…
story has entered the popular today section on popurls.com…
I just translated this into German: http://markus-schlegel.com/weblog/iranelection-cyberwar-guidelines-fuer-anfaenger
I was not really sure with point #6 and what do you mean with “Spread the word discretely through your own networks but don’t signpost them to the security forces” exactly?
[...] Moe Lane, Esko Reinikainen has the rules of engagement: 1. Do NOT publicise proxy IP’s over twitter, and especially not using the #iranelection hashtag. [...]
Hey… trust me, ahmadinejad did not win. There is a reason why several hundred thousands were on the street against him while no one is there to respond. Second of all, Big cities is 70 percent of the voting public. You are right, Ahmadinejad has the support from the poor, in the outside of the major cities, but when a big turnout happens, usually it’s because of change, not to keep the same. Ahmadinejad lost!
what if we signed up for a new twitter account that you could log into would that help? I have a few emails i could use.
wish we could do more. PEACE… Y
[...] blogger Esko Reinikainen wrote about this issue on Tuesday: Don’t blow their cover! If you discover a genuine source, please don’t publicise [...]
[...] posted here. [...]
[...] the guidelines posted in here in this “#iranelection cyberwar for beginners” (thanks, [...]
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[...] Cyberwar Guide for Beginners. [...]
Wonderful Howto for helping Iranian! Keep it up your greate work!
I took the liberty to reproduce your post in my blog.
http://dearmisterlewis.blogspot.com/2009/06/iranelection-cyberwar-guide-for.html
[...] #iranelection cyberwar guide for beginner Mir geht es hier übrigends nicht direkt um die politischen Ereignisse im Iran, ich bin nicht für oder gegen eine Partei. Mir geht es darum das weltweit Pressefreiheit herrscht und Meinungen frei verbreitet werden dürfen. [...]
[...] Sullivan is essential reading for anyone wanting to know what’s happening in Iran. More on how Twitter is serving as an essential conduit here. [...]
Your site is on CNN right now.
#5 sucks! “Don’t blow their cover! If you discover a genuine source, please don’t publicise their name or location on a website. These bloggers are in REAL danger. Spread the word discretely through your own networks but don’t signpost them to the security forces. People are dying there, for real, please keep that in mind.”
it completely removes verifiability and undermines the truth of the messages. more rumors spread around. I don’t think it;s a good idea. it also helps gov’t fake id’s to spread their messages and their voices sound legitimate
@sara
I figure he refers to real data and not their screen names.
[...] #iranelection cyberwar guide for beginners (Thanks, Yishay!) [...]
Sori että olen tyhmä uusi twitterin käyttäjä, mutta voisitko lyhykäisesti selittää vielä (vaikka englanniksi), mitä tavallinen tallaaja EI saa tehdä. Saan kai seurata jotakin iranilaista tweettaajaa?
Kiitos!
[...] Incluso se dan consejos para los principiantes en una ciberguerra – #iranelection cyberwar guide for beginners – En Networked Culture [...]
Great tips, tsenx!!!
Good point about #1; it’s true, you can’t direct-message people unless they follow you. Best idea would be to write publicly to @stopAhmadi or @iran09 and ask them to follow you so that you can DM them with the proxy IP.
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The Shah is dead and no matter what you do, the majority always rule!
Loistavaa työtä! Tämä on ensimmäinen nettivallankumous minulle, ja nämä neuvot ovat todella tarpeen