美国国家公共电台 NPR--How the tech-savvy keep protests alive — even after Iran shut down the internet

How the tech-savvy keep protests alive — even after Iran shut down the internet

Transcript¹

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Mahsa Alimardani of the human rights group Article 19, about the role the internet and social media are playing in the on-going protests over a woman's death in Iran.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Few independent journalists can work in Iran. So in recent weeks, we've mainly seen that country's protests through videos and messages on social media.

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INSKEEP: This video, taken from a rooftop, shows people fleeing down a street as gunshots sound. Ever since a woman died in police custody², Iranians have both spread and gathered news on the internet. They're fighting to get online just as much as they confront police in the streets. Mahsa Alimardani is following that struggle for information. She's a senior researcher with Article 19, which is a human rights organization based outside Iran.

MAHSA ALIMARDANI: Censorship has been a cat-and-mouse game since the very beginning of the introduction of the internet in Iran. Facebook was quite popular, and it was filtered in 2009. Telegram became quite central between 2015 and 2018, especially Telegram's channels. And so after that, Instagram and WhatsApp really came to replace Telegram. Elements within Iranian media that abide³ by, you know, state lines are the first to admit how integral Instagram has been to the Iranian economy, with stats that show that it, like, contributes somewhere around a billion dollars to e-commerce industry in Iran.

INSKEEP: Ah, there's money on the line, and that's why parts of the internet have been free up to now. But how did the government respond online as the protests spread on the streets?

ALIMARDANI: So, I mean, immediately as the protests began outside of Mahsa Amini's hospital, at the Kasra Hospital, we started seeing internet disruptions across mobile networks around the hospital area and the areas people started gathering⁴. And then we saw a large focus as the protests spread across the country. We saw a large focus on disabling mobile networks. And so eventually, after a few days, a pattern emerged of mobile curfews. Between, you know, the period of 4 p.m. to about 1 a.m., mobile networks became almost entirely⁵ disabled or, you know, extremely throttled⁶ or slow. The Supreme⁷ National Security Council also announced that they would be implementing⁸ disruptions, and they would be blocking Instagram and WhatsApp to maintain national security.

INSKEEP: It's my impression that the government still has not pulled the plug on everything, from what you've said, and it appears that people in Iran are still able to communicate with the outside world. It's just a struggle day by day.

ALIMARDANI: Yes, there has been a large-scale attack on VPNs, so of course, almost every foreign platform has been blocked in Iran. We think they're using very sophisticated and automated⁹ deep packet inspection¹⁰ to target the VPNs. And when you do this across a network, it does really severely¹¹ deteriorate¹² the health of the network and slows down bandwidth and really throttles¹³ access.

INSKEEP: I guess we should explain for people who don't use them every day, a VPN is a virtual private network. It's an app you can put on your phone or your computer that allows you to evade¹⁴ censorship controls and keep your communications private unless the government in some way manages to get around that. So people are struggling to communicate, but still communicating in various ways. What can tech companies do now to help them, if they are so inclined?

ALIMARDANI: Google - their Outline VPN has been offering certain credits for people to set up connections themselves and share it with their friends and family in Iran. That has been good. You know, there needs to be more sophisticated VPNs and VPNs that have their software updated perhaps, you know, multiple times a day to deal with the kind of cat-and-mouse game that is happening with the highly sophisticated technology that the authorities are using to target them. A lot of different recommendations have been made to U.S. tech companies, especially, you know, regarding the role that U.S. tech sanctions have placed on them. Google Cloud Platforms, Google App Engine - they have been services that have been blocked inside of Iran, and this has really damaged just the way that infrastructure¹⁵ for the internet has been developed in Iran. So over the years, we've seen these U.S. tech sanctions kind of work hand-in-hand with the authorities' kind of desires and plans to centralize and isolate¹⁶ the Iranian internet from the rest of the world. And so with the lifting of these tech sanctions recently, with the announcement by the U.S. Treasury¹⁷, they have basically given the legal permission for these companies to now be able to provide those services.

INSKEEP: What are you hearing from Meta, the people that run Facebook and also run Instagram, this platform that's so important in Iran normally?

ALIMARDANI: Instagram has been a very crucial platform for activists¹⁸ and documentation of protests. I mean, Meta has had a lot of problems, I guess, with content moderation. During, you know, the protests that were occurring in May and June in Khuzestan Province especially, there were a lot of problems in terms of, you know, them taking down protest footage documenting hundreds of people on the street, for example, saying death to Khamenei, and, you know, that kind of content being removed.

INSKEEP: Oh, someone said that was a death threat, and therefore it has to go, when it's a political slogan in that context, it would seem.

ALIMARDANI: Yes, exactly. So we were having a lot of problems with those policies, you know, not being necessarily contextualized to what are, you know, traditional protest slogans in Iran. But the problem really this time around has been the security of the accounts of the protesters that we're seeing on the streets, the ones that are getting arrested and detained. They are, you know, Gen Z, and they're extremely online, and so - and they're extremely vocal¹⁹. So suddenly, you know, you get inundated²⁰ with friends and family getting in touch with, you know, different human rights organizations, flagging that, you know, so-and-so has been arrested and their accounts need to be secured or else, you know, the authorities will be able to access it. They will find more incriminating evidence on it, etc., etc. And so that kind of support has been really crucial during these protests, which is getting the platforms to provide rapid response help for different protesters.

INSKEEP: Mahsa Alimardani, thanks so much.

ALIMARDANI: My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

INSKEEP: Mahsa Alimardani is with Article 19, a human rights group.

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

3 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

6 throttled   

v.扼杀( throttle的过去式和过去分词 )；勒死；使窒息；压制

参考例句：

• He throttled the guard with his bare hands. 他徒手掐死了卫兵。
• The pilot got very low before he throttled back. 飞行员减速之前下降得很低。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

8 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

9 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

10 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

11 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

12 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

13 throttles   

n.控制油、气流的阀门( throttle的名词复数 )；喉咙，气管v.扼杀( throttle的第三人称单数 )；勒死；使窒息；压制

参考例句：

• The Vimy, throttles full open, began to roll slowly down the field. “维米号”开足了马力，在机场上开始慢慢滑行。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• Throttles dense solutions of paper mill stock for headbox flow control, etc. 用于压头箱流体控制的造纸厂原料的稠密流体节流，等等。 来自互联网

14 evade   

vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避

参考例句：

• He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
• You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人，你怎么能对这个问题不置可否？

15 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

16 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

17 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

18 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

20 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》