Iran's Bloggers Voice of Free Speech During Elections

"Young bloggers hold key as Iran goes to polls" from UK Telegraph reports that the one media outlet that is not loaded with state propaganda is the Internet and the young bloggers of Iran - and their critical appraisal of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may influence the Iranian elections - given that two-thirds of the population is under age thirty.

With three to four million bloggers, Iran has one of the highest proportions of bloggers in the world.

"Reformists Face Uphill Battle in Iranian" from Der Spiegel

Since Mr Ahmadinejad won power in 2005, the regime has closed three reformist newspapers. Five websites were blocked last month, allegedly for "poisoning the electoral environment".

But the blogosphere is so huge and dynamic that the authorities cannot hope to smother all of its free voices. Iran's reformist leaders believe the internet is having a great political impact.

"Little by little, our people are turning to the internet to learn about politics," said Mustapha Tajzadeh, a leading reformer. "You can find 90 per cent of my speeches on the internet. But the newspapers do not report me."