Who is on Twitter from Iran?

Updated June 22 2009

Iran protests

Here is the updated list of Twitter-ers on the ground in Iran:



@4myppl
@abzole
@adoostdar
@alirezasha
@anonymousiniran
@avahedi
@azarnoush
@bahadorn
@Bahram81
@bta_f
@Change_for_Iran
@duckdaotsu
@fafamx
@farnamb
@Ghattavi
@gita (protected)
@hamednz
@huti_421
@iran09
@iranbaan
@IranElection09
@IranPishi
@IranRiggedElect
@IranUltimatum
@jadi
@jimsciuttoABC (left?)
@jubinahdi
@knv
@LaraABCNews
@madyar
@mahdi (protected)
@mehri912
@mhrshd
@MiladRevolution
@mohamadreza (protected)
@mohandesalireza
@monshi
@mousavi1388
@Mynumberone1988
@mtux (protected)
@openiran
@parastoo
@parhamdoustdar
@persiankiwi
@pleasesaveiran
@PouyanA
@ralavi
@ramezanpour (protected)
@SadeqEn (protected)
@sasan_j
@Shahrzadmo
@smileofcrash
@StopAhmadi
@TehranBureau
@tehranelection
@VoiceofIran
@willyong
@WhereIsMyVoteIr
@zahrahb

For a good real-time overview of the latest Twitter updates and news overview on the post-election protests, check Twazzup.

Update: June 19
There has been an active debate on other blogs and websites whether or not we should publish this list. See also the comments on this post.
Do we put people's lives in danger? I asked some of the Twitterers in Iran, but did not get an answer.
My view is: Nobody in Iran will come onto a public medium unless they consciously choose to do so. All of them hide their real identity, and actively request people to re-broadcast the information they are giving from the ground, especially as the traditional media have been put on restraint.
An interesting post on this subject, you find on the Traveller Within.

Update: June 20
On my own initiative, I deleted those who did not seem to take enough precautions in hiding their identity.

Update: June 22
On the same topic, this tweet came out today: "@shahrzadmo: State TV: Send your videos to Police so they recognise the "rioters" and arrest them!"... Does this also mean bloggers around the world should not republish YouTube videos from the protests, so people don't get identified?

For an overview of the role of social media in "post-election Iran", check this post.

Input thanks to h3x.no, reddit.com, Mohamed, Simon, Daily Dish and fellow twitter users.

Picture courtesy Madyar

11 comments:

Anonymous,  16 June, 2009 08:20  

I think you are putting these people in danger.

Peter 16 June, 2009 10:10  

@anonymous

-- I thought about this. Each of them is using Twitter, a public medium to broadcast their updates.

They actively request (putting it mildly) people to spread the word, which is exactly what I did with this post.

Anyone else have an opinion on this?

Peter

Peter 16 June, 2009 17:46  

Conscience is a strange thing. I thought the rest of the day of the comment Anonymous left on this post.

Am I really putting these people in danger?

I re-read the posts from these courageous people. All of them communicate to the outside world, conscientiously choosing this public microblog system to "get their message out".

I feel our task is to spread their word, let their voices be heard, not to muffle them up.

P.

Unknown 17 June, 2009 02:00  

You have a point about these user accounts being public, but by pointing to the lot of them, their effectiveness by pointing them out en masse could be gutted.

Is there another way we can route people to them? Bit.ly? Tinyurl?

Peter 17 June, 2009 07:14  

Ciao Scott,

I think readers might confuse real names (or email addresses) with Twitter handles or account names. I did not list real name, I only listed Twitter handles which are all acronyms, symbolic names or false names.

These people have been under the fear of reprecussions for any kind of "subversive" activity since ages, so they pretty much know how to hide their real identities...

To get their Twitter handles just like I did, you only need to watch this stream or the feed on the top of my sidecolumn for 10 minutes...

And I would assume the authorities do so, certainly knowing of all the press Twitter got in relation to the Iran elections...

Where we could help them is to continue spread their word. And make it more confusing for the authorities by changing our own Twitter account locations to Tehran, Iran (as I did).

Bit.ly & co won't help as you end up at the end destination URL anyways..

But always welcoming other thoughts! ;-)

P.

Peter 19 June, 2009 13:36  

Related to this topic: An example of how people ask to be retweeted:

Change_for_Iran: Please RT with my username, they already know about this account and at least it would reduce the number of false RTs & I can block them

Anonymous,  19 June, 2009 20:44  

How did you determine who was "on the ground" in Iran?

Peter 19 June, 2009 22:38  

@anonymous:

I monitored Twitter for two days after the election results came out, and picked up those who reported on the events there, before it hit the mainstream media.

Anonymous,  20 June, 2009 19:16  

http://twitter.com/adoostdar
in iran.

look him up

NativeSonKY 24 June, 2009 10:12  

Oh I see - it's a "moderated" board...so there is no real free speech or freedom here, move on folks, nothing to see....

Except that by publishing twitter names of people KNOWN to be in Iran you have just subjected them to further harm...

Sheesh...ignorance IS Universal...

Peter 24 June, 2009 13:35  

@NativeSonKY

Just above the box where you wrote your comment, it says:

"To avoid spamming and profanity, comments will only show up after I (manually) clear them."

To claim moderated comments limits your freedom to speak, would be rather.. hmm.. how should I put it...?

PS: you saw I put up a survey on what people think on publishing lists of YouTube, blog, Twitter users from Iran.
Strangely enough, I never had any response from anyone IN Iran...

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To avoid spamming and profanity, comments will only show up after I (manually) clear them.

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