WebProNews

Google/Facebook Go Persian in Response to Iran Discussion

Google announced that Google Translate now offers translation between the English and Persian (Farsi) languages. With all of the news discussion from within and all over the world surrounding Iran, the company presumably felt that having this available would be beneficial for those trying to stay informed.

Twitter Proves Its Worth During Iran Protests

Comedians and cynics may have to shelve jokes concerning Twitter's uselessness for at least a few weeks.  The site has started to play a significant role in Iran's election crisis, and executives have even rescheduled "a critical network upgrade" in order to keep it available.

Iran Lifts Ban On Facebook

Iran has lifted its ban on Facebook after blocking it to prevent supporters of a moderate in the presidential race from using it for his campaign. "A few minutes ago Facebook was unblocked," Ilna news agency reported. The agency is considered to be close to the reformist candidates running in the June 12 election.

Iran Blocks Millions Of Web Sites

The Iranian government is currently blocking in excess of five million Web sites for hosting content that it deems as unethical and anti-Islamic.During a conference in Iran, the Prosecutor General Abdolsamad Khoram Abadi said most of the sites were blocked because they "contained unethical content" such as pornography and anti-Islamic sentiment.

Google Earth Upsets Iran

We no longer have to worry only about what President Bush will say to provoke the nuclear-arms seeking Iranian government. Google’s thrown its hat into the ring too!

Iran Likely To Block Internet Access For Election

The Iranian government has plans to block private access to the Internet for the general legislative election on March 14, Iranian news agencies are reporting.The reasoning behind the shutting down of the Internet was inconsistent. "Shutting down the Internet service will depend on security plans and on the Ministry of Telecommunication," said Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the interior minister.

Iranian Web Editor Jailed

The managing editor of a conservative Iranian Web site was arrested for "poisoning the election atmosphere," a Tehran general prosecutor said.In a blog post on the Nosazi (Renovation) Web site, Hossein Nobakhtian took the grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini to task for going against the legacy of the founder of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. The post attacked Hassan Khomeini for not agreeing with hardliners and their decision to not include moderates on a list of candidates for the March 14 parliamentary elections.

Thankfully, There's YouTube

Who knows how it happened. Maybe the stars aligned. Maybe somebody hacked the system. Maybe whoever's in charge of the images that appear on the giant video screens in the middle of an Iranian street is about to be in big, big trouble.

Yahoo, Microsoft Cut Email Services In Iran

Yahoo and Microsoft have taken Iran off the country lists of their email services as the U.S. has imposed tougher sanctions on the Islamic country.

Iran's Google Block An "Error"

The rapidly spreading story about Iran's censorship of Google and Gmail now has to compete with another story: that of Iran undoing the blocking at its ISPs.