Text messages offer Iranians outlet for dissent
Financial Times
November 28, 2011 3:00 pm
By Monovar Khalaj
The first thing Shiva, a 39-year-old Iranian housewife, does every morning is check her mobile telephone. Rather than looking for messages from family or scanning news headlines, Shiva is looking for the latest satirical text messages on the Islamic Republic’s social, political and economic woes.
She then forwards the short messages to relatives and friends, accessing a social network of mobile users which has expanded beyond internet networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
“These satirical texts are passed on like the verses of a holy book,”Shiva says. “I quickly resend whatever I receive so that my family and friends can also have a laugh at our difficulties.”
One of the latest revolves around an alleged banking scandal involving a missing $2.8bn, which has created a national uproar. At the same time, many Iranians believe that their government is wasting precious national assets by providing financial support to Lebanese and Palestinian militant groups.
The text says: “Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah [leader of Lebanon’s Hizbollah] and Ismail Haniyeh [Hamas prime minister in the Gaza Strip, Palestine] have announced that they are earnestly investigating the embezzlement in Iran – to take back the rights of Palestinian and Lebanese nations from the corrupt Iranians.”
The text messages function like a thermometer measuring social trends and public concerns, reflecting the preoccupations of a repressed and conservative society.
The number of internet users in Iran now stands at about 36m out of a population of 75m. But internet access is confined mainly to those who can afford a computer.
The number of mobile phone users in contrast has risen to more than 56m people which means that coverage is extended beyond an elite to include the less-elevated members of society.
Many Iranians could not afford mobile phones until about five years ago, before which a sim card cost about $1,000.
Thanks to cheap rechargeable sim cards priced at IR100,000 ($9.50), mobile phones have now become part of people’s daily lives. Phones have thus become a powerful mechanism for quickly disseminating public reaction to political and economic developments.
The content of the text messages can be robust, trading in sexual and racial innuendo. Maryam, another enthusiast, says one of the best sarcastic messages she has received recently concerns the alleged senility of Ahmad Jannati, head of the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog which is responsible for supervising national elections.
The opposition considers Mr Jannati partly responsible for the allegedly rigged presidential elections of 2009 and has called on the 84-year-old hardline cleric to step down because of his age.
The texting found its protest function two years ago during that campaign as an easily accessible medium to organise anti-government campaigns before the disputed presidential election in 2009.
Not surprisingly, the government of Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad shut down the SMS communication networks for months to head off post-election unrest.
Although street rallies of the opposition Green Movement came to a halt following a brutal crackdown, analysts say the protests are continuing in other forms and that mobile telephony is playing a critical role.
Hamid-Reza Jalaeipour, a sociologist, says Iranian society prefers for the time being to steer clear of demonstrations which can be costly.
“But people do resist and protest in other ways such as texting political and non-political jokes or excessively watching [opposition] satellite channels,” Mr Jalaeipour says.
November 28, 2011 3:00 pm
By Monovar Khalaj
The first thing Shiva, a 39-year-old Iranian housewife, does every morning is check her mobile telephone. Rather than looking for messages from family or scanning news headlines, Shiva is looking for the latest satirical text messages on the Islamic Republic’s social, political and economic woes.
She then forwards the short messages to relatives and friends, accessing a social network of mobile users which has expanded beyond internet networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
“These satirical texts are passed on like the verses of a holy book,”Shiva says. “I quickly resend whatever I receive so that my family and friends can also have a laugh at our difficulties.”
One of the latest revolves around an alleged banking scandal involving a missing $2.8bn, which has created a national uproar. At the same time, many Iranians believe that their government is wasting precious national assets by providing financial support to Lebanese and Palestinian militant groups.
The text says: “Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah [leader of Lebanon’s Hizbollah] and Ismail Haniyeh [Hamas prime minister in the Gaza Strip, Palestine] have announced that they are earnestly investigating the embezzlement in Iran – to take back the rights of Palestinian and Lebanese nations from the corrupt Iranians.”
The text messages function like a thermometer measuring social trends and public concerns, reflecting the preoccupations of a repressed and conservative society.
The number of internet users in Iran now stands at about 36m out of a population of 75m. But internet access is confined mainly to those who can afford a computer.
The number of mobile phone users in contrast has risen to more than 56m people which means that coverage is extended beyond an elite to include the less-elevated members of society.
Many Iranians could not afford mobile phones until about five years ago, before which a sim card cost about $1,000.
Thanks to cheap rechargeable sim cards priced at IR100,000 ($9.50), mobile phones have now become part of people’s daily lives. Phones have thus become a powerful mechanism for quickly disseminating public reaction to political and economic developments.
The content of the text messages can be robust, trading in sexual and racial innuendo. Maryam, another enthusiast, says one of the best sarcastic messages she has received recently concerns the alleged senility of Ahmad Jannati, head of the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog which is responsible for supervising national elections.
The opposition considers Mr Jannati partly responsible for the allegedly rigged presidential elections of 2009 and has called on the 84-year-old hardline cleric to step down because of his age.
The texting found its protest function two years ago during that campaign as an easily accessible medium to organise anti-government campaigns before the disputed presidential election in 2009.
Not surprisingly, the government of Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad shut down the SMS communication networks for months to head off post-election unrest.
Although street rallies of the opposition Green Movement came to a halt following a brutal crackdown, analysts say the protests are continuing in other forms and that mobile telephony is playing a critical role.
Hamid-Reza Jalaeipour, a sociologist, says Iranian society prefers for the time being to steer clear of demonstrations which can be costly.
“But people do resist and protest in other ways such as texting political and non-political jokes or excessively watching [opposition] satellite channels,” Mr Jalaeipour says.
Comments
Post a Comment