Following a complaint filed by the government of Ahmadinejad against the opponent website Baztab, its office was sealed off by the Judiciary [Persian]. A newspaper close to Ahmadinejad writes, “Rezaei, the owner of Baztab, when failed in finding a job in the government, turned into an unjust and offensive critic [Persian].” In its last post, Baztab asserts that the ban has been the result of a seven-month pressure by the government [Persian].
To know how popular Baztab was, it is enough to compare it with the leading state-run news agency Farsnews and the national television (Alexa). Note that while Baztab is filtered in Iran, the two others are conveniently reachable. Many of the drops in the popularity of Baztab coincide with previous bans on the website.
It is quite hillarious to remember Ahmadinejad’s claim that “Complete freedom exists in Iran and all individuals and groups can express their ideas [Persian]“.
Being “unjust and offensive”, as they put it, does not go against free speech. Not that it’s even a concern for AJ & Co. Silencing critics is much more fun.
Comment by Roman Kalik — September 23, 2007 @ 11:33 pm
[...] Kamangir reports more on Baztab and adds;  It is quite hillarious to remember Ahmadinejad’s claim that “Complete freedom exists in Iran and all individuals and groups can express their ideas [...]
Pingback by This ain’t Hell, but you can see it from here » Ahmadinejad short and stout — September 24, 2007 @ 11:44 am
[...] read: Popular Ahmadinejad Critic Website Closed Off digg_url = ‘http://beirutspring.com/blog/2007/09/23/ahmadinejads-inferior-worldview/’; [...]
Pingback by Ahmadinejad’s Inferior Worldview | The Beirut Spring, a Lebanese Blog — September 24, 2007 @ 1:54 pm
[...] Iran under his guidance was a bastion for freedom of thought. He must of forgotten about his recent closing of a website that was a critic of the government. However student activism is justly rewarded with trumped up [...]
Pingback by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Assembly at Columbia University « Samaritans Scalawags Scoundrels & Fleecing the Sheep — September 25, 2007 @ 4:47 am
I wonder how much it costs these days to have your website filtered in Iran. Such an action seems to immediately generate praise for the website, criticism for the Iranian government, and in general attention for the “banned” website. Merely a clever marketing tool by the Iranians.
Comment by Al-Kindi — September 25, 2007 @ 11:01 am