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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
In the days since Iran's contested presidential vote, demonstrators have proved resourceful and adept1 in bypassing a government clampdown on information sharing. Aided by mobile phones and an array of Internet services, technology-savvy Iranians have organized among themselves and communicated with the outside world, sending personalized and unfiltered accounts of events as they unfold in their country. We examine the role technology is playing in Iran's post-election saga2, and how it is affecting the balance of power between some autocratic regimes and the people.
Picture of Mousavi supporters in Tehran 17 Jun 2009 posted on photo-sharing site Twitpic by user 'madyar' via AFP.
Iranians have seized the world's attention through gripping, first-hand people-to-people reporting. Surf the Internet, and you will find countless3 uploaded videos depicting4 defiance5, as well as chaos6 and violence on the streets.
At the same time, messages disseminated7 through Web-based services like Twitter and appearing on social networks like Facebook have helped demonstrators coordinate8 activities, warn each other of danger, and keep the world informed on a minute-by-minute basis.
It is precisely9 the global outreach of ordinary Iranians that impresses Virginia-based social media entrepreneur and author Geoff Livingston.
"To see it happen in Iran and to see the global community embrace it and pick up on it and watch it as it happens - we have never seen anything like this before," he said.
With foreign journalists either forced to leave Iran or confined to their hotels, major news organizations have come to rely heavily on Iran's fledgling crop of citizen journalists.
"There are no reliable [official] sources right now in Iran," said VOA Persian News Network television anchor Hamideh Aramideh. "People are the reliable sources. They are not just one, two, three hundred. They are thousands."
Aramideh's Facebook page has added thousands of new Iranian contacts in recent days.
Iran's demographics help explain the country's post-election dynamic, according to Alex Vatanka, Senior Middle East Analyst10 for Jane's Information Group.
"It is a reflection of the youthfulness of the country," he said. "A country of 70 percent being under the age of 30. It is youthful, it is technologically-savvy, it is able to use the latest gadgets12."
But Vatanka adds that the use of technology is not limited to Iranian demonstrators.
"Authorities also can use Facebook and other social networking services as their own as a way of rallying support," he said. "And, they can monitor what is being said in cyberspace13. Monitor who is saying what."
Iran's authorities have limited options when it comes to blocking communication, according to blogger and author Daniel Drezner, who teaches international politics at Tufts University in Massachusetts.
"The obvious option is to try to disrupt the means of communication," he said. "But it is worth recognizing that, even if you shut down Twitter, word-of-mouth still works, just as it did over a century ago."
Drezner says Iran is only the latest country in which technology has facilitated a popular uprising.
"Democratic movements have undoubtedly14 benefited from this," he said. "We have had a whole series of 'color revolutions' where we have seen this kind of thing. That said, there are two caveats15. The first is: it is a dynamic process where you do have governments over time learning how to thwart16 these things. For example, while you had an Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the government in Belarus was very quick to crack down on any possibility of a social movement. The second [caveat] is that sometimes things happen through these technologies that would have happened anyway. It is simply that we would not have observed them otherwise."
Geoff Livingston says authoritarian17 governments stifle18 their citizen's ability to communicate at their own peril19.
"That really puts them in a dangerous spot, because in order to prevent this [information sharing] from happening, they have to stunt20 their own technological11 development," he said. "Which means they have to stunt their own economic development and their own welfare. Do you become North Korea - walled off from the world with no technology? Or do you embrace this and start moving towards democracy?"
Web-based services have taken special measures in response to developments in Iran. Twitter delayed scheduled maintenance that would have disrupted the service. YouTube is relaxing restrictions21 to allow videos from Iran that contain scenes of violence, saying the images are "important" for the world to see.
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1
adept
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| adj.老练的，精通的 | |
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saga
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| n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇 | |
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countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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depicting
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| 描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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disseminated
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| 散布，传播( disseminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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coordinate
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| adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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analyst
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| n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家 | |
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technological
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| adj.技术的；工艺的 | |
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gadgets
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| n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ） | |
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cyberspace
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| n.虚拟信息空间，网络空间，计算机化世界 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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caveats
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| 警告 | |
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thwart
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| v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的) | |
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authoritarian
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| n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者 | |
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stifle
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| vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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stunt
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| n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长 | |
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restrictions
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| 约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则） | |
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