Iran has been airing its views on Argo’s win at the Oscars last night. The movie tells the story of how the CIA used Hollywood to get six U.S. embassy workers out of the country during the hostage crisis of 1979.
“Argo is a movie against Iran,” said the Asriran website. Asiran also claimed that the regime’s Culture Minister had been directly responsible for Iranian movie A Separation winning Best Foreign Film in 2012. The minister, Javad Shamghadri, claimed that his department had lobbied hard for the Iranian drama to win.
As well as the content of the movie, there was criticism of Michelle Obama’s role in announcing the winner. “In a rare occasion in Oscar history, the First Lady announced the winner for Best Picture for the anti-Iran film Argo, which is produced by the Zionist company Warner Bros,” said Fars News.
Ben Affleck’s acceptance speech did not escape censure, either. “After distorting history, Ben Affleck continues to show a bleak picture of Iran,” said Mehr News. “Iranians live in terrible circumstances.”
In 100 years, historians will probably look back at Stuxnet’s emergence as the Trinity Test for a new age of warfare — a harbinger of danger in an uncertain era. Read more.
Stuxnet has been called the world’s first weapon made entirely out of code. It is responsible for damaging Iran’s uranium enrichment infrastructure and effectively halting the country’s nuclear program.
This infographic explores the ramifications of Stuxnet. It was created by Patrick Clair for HungryBeast, a TV program on Australia’s ABC1.
Yesterday, we reported that the Iranian government is planning to wall-off much of the country’s online access with a major censorship effort they are dubbing, “Halal Internet.”
Today, the Ugandan government, facing social unrest over high food and fuel prices, will order its ISPs to block Twitter and Facebook. Read the full story here.
“Oh, hey guys remember that thing called the Internet? Yeah… well never mind about that. You just keep going about your day. It’s still out there of course, but you probably shouldn’t pay that much attention to it.” With Love, Your Gov.
The Iranian government, wary from the internet-driven 2009 demonstrations and the recent Arab revolutions, is planning to wall-off much of the country’s online access. A high-ranking Iranian official has their new solution: A “Halal Internet” that will run as a nationwide intranet and be subject to extensive censorship.
According to Iranian Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs Ali Agha Mohammadi, the ”Halal Internet” project is expected to be completed in 18 months (Persian language link). Mohammadi explicitly cited China’s extensive internet controls as an inspiration for the project, which will be completed with the help of what the Minister calls “foreign consultants.”