Dictators, censorship and paranoia

[manim]

(sryy for my bad english)
i was an regular member here and i used to visit this site like everyday but for some random reasons i stopped(university and stuff like that) but today i tried to come here to see first impressions about gods and kings and to my surprise i found out that our government has actually ban this site. a site dedicated to fans of a game ...so my question is that do you think sites like this really pose a threat to dictatorship regime stability or its just some kinda paranoia that dictators are suffering?
and im talking about dictatorships in general
(again sryy for my bad english)

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

How are you managing to post if it's banned? You're the coolest person on the site if you are breaking the law just being here

 

[manim]

well since all big sites(facebook,youtube,twitter,gmail,all non iranian news sites.....) are ban in iran you eventually have to find a way around it if you want to use internet here

 

[Glassfan]

(sryy for my bad english)
i was an regular member here and i used to visit this site like everyday but for some random reasons i stopped(university and stuff like that) but today i tried to come here to see first impressions about gods and kings and to my surprise i found out that our government has actually ban this site. a site dedicated to fans of a game ...so my question is that do you think sites like this really pose a threat to dictatorship regime stability or its just some kinda paranoia that dictators are suffering?
and im talking about dictatorships in general
(again sryy for my bad english)

Are you really in Iran? That's a clever poem in your signature - "Let them eat Yellow Cake" - an allusion to the violence of the French Revolution and uranium ore (nukes). It actually amuses on several levels.

Isn't free speech always a threat to dictatorial power? Certainly the Iranian authorities are aware that protesters have employed social media to communicate and organize in the past. Naturally one would think a gamesite would be relatively harmless, but brutal regimes often swat flys with sledge hammers.

Do you joke there about being part of the "Axis of Evil"? My friends and I often make fun of being from the "Great Satan"!

 

[Leonel]

I'm sure there have been quite a few threads about Iran on these forums since then.

 

[manim]

Are you really in Iran? That's a clever poem in your signature - "Let them eat Yellow Cake" - an allusion to the violence of the French Revolution and uranium ore (nukes). It actually amuses on several levels.

Isn't free speech always a threat to dictatorial power? Certainly the Iranian authorities are aware that protesters have employed social media to communicate and organize in the past. Naturally one would think a gamesite would be relatively harmless, but brutal regimes often swat flys with sledge hammers.

Do you joke there about being part of the "Axis of Evil"? My friends and I often make fun of being from the "Great Satan"!

yeah the peom is part of a song of an Iranian rock band named kiosk
i agree that free speech is a threat .but we are talkign about a gaming site with at best 10 iranian members .dont you think its just an unrealistic fear that lead them to bannig sites like this
about axis of evil part.hmmm yes and no cuz well wer not fooling anyone iran regime is going after atomic weapon and if in any situation that can help their survival they will use it soo thats pretty evil i think

 

[Glassfan]

...i agree that free speech is a threat .but we are talkign about a gaming site with at best 10 iranian members .dont you think its just an unrealistic fear that lead them to bannig sites like this.

Well, let's just take it as a complement for now.

 

[peter grimes]

Just because there may only be a handful of people on a site today doesn't mean there is no threat to the powerful.

This us on open forum that anyone may join in order to exchange ideas. I would imagine ALL internet forums to be a threat, unless the state security has a good deal of control over the site.

There was a great segment about just this a couple of weeks ago on OnTheMedia. They were talking about Chinese bloggers, but the principle is the same.

As for nukes and the axis of evils, well, the remaining 2 members saw what happened to the first one who didn't have nukes. The US sent a very clear message: only nukes can protect you - we'll invade whoever we want with or without UN approval.

Iran would be stupid *not* to develop a native nuclear production capacity for self defense. I think fears of a nuclear Iran are wildly exaggerated. I'm far more worried about an accident among the current nations' stockpiles.

 

[timtofly]

How much freedom do iranians have in learning about other countries? Other than the use as a social media to plot, isn't there a fear of people finding out there is greener grass in other places?

A restless people held against their will does not provide stability either.

 

[manim]

How much freedom do iranians have in learning about other countries? Other than the use as a social media to plot, isn't there a fear of people finding out there is greener grass in other places?

A restless people held against their will does not provide stability either.

no its not that bad ...yet
most household have access to internet and in large city's almost everyone have satellite tv and you can buy latest US films and series almost anyware

 

[Formaldehyde]

I once posted the story about how an Iranian "rocket scientist" was not allowed to enroll in a Norwegian university in fear that he would take the technology he learned back to Iran. He found the post via a Google search and posted here as a result.

It is sad that the Iranian government is now apparently censoring this website. I wonder why. There have been other Iranian posters as well in the past.

 

[Tee Kay]

I think it's less about this site being a threat to the Iranian regime than it is about restricting information on principle.

Are Iranian forums blocked? Or are they just closely monitored/censored/self-censored like in China?

 

[manim]

I think it's less about this site being a threat to the Iranian regime than it is about restricting information on principle.

Are Iranian forums blocked? Or are they just closely monitored/censored/self-censored like in China?

most of them are blocked.
ok but is this kind of censorship really effective or even necessary? wont this just force more people into using anti-block means(vpns,proxys,...)without actually helping them in any way?

 

[Tee Kay]

If it reduces the number of people who visits these sites - which it probably does - then yes I'm guessing it is worth the effort. The point of censoring websites is not to completely block access to them; but make access illegal and difficult enough to deter some, if not most, people.

 

[manim]

but what happens when you push it so far?i mean when they start to block normal sits they force more people into using anti-block programs and more people using them it becomes easier to access those programs and eventually they'll lose the power to impose this censorship
and for the record i think they are pushing it too far.when you open a block site in Iran it automatically redirect you to peyvandha.ir and the funny thing is right now peyvandha.ir is the most visited site in iran

 

[Tee Kay]

I don't know if CFC can be considered a "normal" site; I don't think Civilization is that big a game in Iran anyway.