Old interview with closed Brazilian newspaper

A few months ago, a Brazilian journalist did the following interview with me. It was supposed to be published in a newspaper called Q!. but it was shut down before the interview was published and apparently for financial problems.

My Brazilian friends speculated the newspaper was just a way to clear some money by the publishers. Who knows.

I thought of putting it here on blog, at least the time I spent on it would have not been completely wasted. It may be useful for someone.

1. What do you think are the most important changes brought by Iranian weblogs to life in Iran? Do you think they can or should still help change some more?

Masoud Behnoud, a veteran journalist and blogger once wrote if blogs were around during the revolution and the war, things would've turned out differently. I think the most important function that blogs have in Iran right now is the public sphere they've created, referring to Habermas's concept. Blogs are now this unique space in which a relatively equal, interactive and collective debate could happen out of the government's control, and among a very influential group of people who are, sociologically speaking, reference groups for a lot of people around them.

There are now 7.5 million internet users in Iran and it's estimated there are over 700 thousand blogs written by Iranians. I can even say that reading or writing blogs is one of the biggest motives for Iranians for paying for Internet access – obviously after porn. According to a blogger, young people now chat less and blog more.

2. What do you make of last month´s summit in Tunis?

If the purpose of such event was for the delegates and participents to meet and exchange cards and do netwroking, I should say it was successful. But if they were supposed to change the way internet is run, I don't think they achieved much. But I think, other than fundamental issues such as digital devide and technical, the information society is now more threatened by governments such as China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Burma, UAE, etc. which are increasingly strengthen their grip on the free flow of information. It's very unfortunate that they so much benefit from the Internet, but don't show any commitment to its very basic ethical principles on which the whole technology is developed, such as decentralization, transparency, freedom of access and information, etc. All depicted in the technical backbone of the internet, TCP/IP protocole.

3. Which issue is more crucial now: Net governance or the digital divide between rich and poor countries? Why? [Some bloggers claim that controlling the web is not really that important; but why then would the US not give it up if it´s not?]

I guess digital devide is more important than net governance at this point. But as I said, internet censorship is even more important than the other two. I think if the countries that limit their citizens' access to online information start having a say in the way Internet is governmed, it'd be a disastor. At least the US, despite its problematc foreign policy, is governning the internet more or less fairly and freely. Imagine China contorling it!

4. From what you´ve seen and done yourself, do you regard independent webloggers [I don´t mean the 'dear-diary-luv-butterflies' type] as a strong, active group whose influence on political debate and other issues might be expected to rise?

Yes, I do. Especialy in countries such as Iran and the US where the goverrnment or big coorporations try to limit or influence the political debate, bloggers would play a significant role. But this would only happen if enough people were familar with blogs and were follwoing them. Blogs could not affect much where they've not become mainstream.

5. You´re travelling all the time and posting from all over the world. After what happened to you in the US boarder, when they googled your name, do you think stuff like that might become a routine? Are you afraid it gets any worse then that for you and other webloggers with similar profile?

I really want to know weather using Google to retrieve information about people at the border is an approved procedure by the US government. Becasue it has very serious implications. It means that they assume whatever is on the internet about people is reliable. So if you don't like someone, you can easily start a blog in behalf of them and write terrible stuff under his or her name. How a border security officer is supposed to different information from misinformation? This is a really serious question based on which civil rights groups, I guess, should demand clarification.

The other general problem which bloggers might be facing is that many of them are doing journalism without being a journalist. They are very vulnerable when they challenge the wealthy or the powerful, without having the protection that rights group provide for mainstream journalists. I think soon these rights groups should let bloggers in their asssociations, or bloggers should start their own protective civil rights groups – although I personally favor the former.

6. Are there many Iranian women blogging, that you know of?

Of course. One of the first female bloggers was actually one of the enthusiastic readers of my column when I was writing in a reformist newspaper in Iran about the Internet. We kept in touch through email after I left Iran, although we'd never met each other. Later, when I started my blog she was a big supporter and soon she became a blogger herself. Her name is Sanam and her blog, Khorshid Khanoom, is still one of the most popular ones becasue of her casual and friendly language and her feminine point of view.

7. Could you name your top five weblogs, those you really follow?

During the US elections I used to follow a lot of blogs written in English language.But now I don't have time to follow non-Persian blogs. But in order to get a sense of what's hot or not in the English-speaking blogosphere I use blogdex and del.icio.us.

However, I check one or two dozens of Persian blogs everyday. Among them these are my most favorites (without any order):

- Zan Nevesht, by Parastoo Dokouhaki, a female journalist

- Zeitoon, by an anonymous young woman in Karaj, a city near Tehran

- Alpar, by Ali Pirhosseinlou, a pro-reform activist

- Khorshid Khanoom, by a female language teacher who now lives in the US

- Sibil Tala, by a female undergrad student, based in Toronto

- Esteshhadi, by Massih Mahdavi, a very young supporter of the regime