Column

In a busy, news-filled week — a civil war in West Bengal, whimsical decisions by the local education minister, a film star being arrested for alleged rape — a small story about the social networking site Twitter may not have caught everyone's notice. Though its older cousin Facebook has taken Indian netizens by storm, Twitter still is in its infancy here. Not many are enthused about sending out "short bursts of inconsequential information", as twittering is described by dictionaries, and despite its early adoption by celebrities in the West, in India it remains a fringe activity.

But this story was not about something trivial. The US state department last week urged Twitter to delay a scheduled maintenance shutdown to avoid interruption of the service in Iran. Iranian protestors have been using tweets, as Twitter messages are known, and posting pictures to send out information to the rest of the world about what was happening in their country. In the absence of many foreign reporters on Iranian soil and the "unreliability" of the Iranian media, such tweets have become an invaluable source of information.

In the past week or so, protesters have used their cell phones to capture pictures and post them on YouTube and other sites. YouTube has relaxed its usual restrictions on violent images and allowed videos of bleeding Iranians to be posted to show the world what exactly the Revolutionary Guard was doing to its citizens. Meanwhile, the opposition candidate, Mir Hussein Mosavi, is using his Facebook page to rally his supporters round and organize demonstrations. The Iranian government has objected to "US interference" in its affairs.

The United States has always taken an inordinate amount of interest in Iran right from the 1950s, when the CIA coordinated a coup against nationalist prime minister Mohammed Mossadegh, to now, when the belligerent Mahmoud Ahmedinejad threatens to annihilate Israel. An oil-rich, powerful, nuclear-armed nation in the Middle East is not a comforting thought for the West.

For some time it appeared that Ahmedinejad would lose this election and more moderate elements such as Mousavi would take over. That did not happen — Ahmedinejad won "handsomely", including in areas that are traditionally supportive of Mousavi. Naturally, Iranians were appalled, and for the past few days thousands have been out in the streets demanding fresh elections or at least a recount. But though the protests have rattled the Iranian establishment, there is nothing to suggest that the old order is going to collapse anytime soon.

Whichever way the rebellion finally goes, it will always be known as the world's first cyber-linked mass protest, where the internet and other mobile technologies have been used to the hilt. So far social networking and mobile communications have been seen as frivolous tools for the wired generation. Facebook is often derided as a way to keep in touch with those whom you did not want to be in touch with in the first place. Twitter and YouTube are full of pointless messages and videos which keep young people distracted from more important things, say their parents and teachers. Now these technologies have come of age.

We in India saw a bit of that in the aftermath of 26/11, when Facebook groups expressed collective anger and got thousands of people out on the streets to protest against political and bureaucratic apathy. The chief minister of Maharashtra and the Union home minister had to go because of public pressure, which was reflected through not only angry letters and editorials in newspapers and television channels, but also the disgust on such social communication sites that provided that extra edginess. In the recent airplane crash in the Hudson river in New York, photos of the incident were out on Twitter before the news media could even reach the site.

The implications of what is happening in Iran would not have been lost on other governments, especially dictatorial, totalitarian ones. China, Myanmar, and other governments have already imposed strict controls on web access. They know what web networking can do; it is a counter-propaganda weapon in the hands of the people like no other. Add to that the fact that all of them, whether Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube are based in the US, and the multiplier effect becomes scarily apparent.

These technologies have also begun to affect the news media. No longer is the fight between print and television; it is between new and old technology, between fast and slow transmission of information, between the traditional and the futuristic way of doing things. Already photographs put out by "citizen journalists" from Iran, along with their blogs, are out there for readers around the world. There are the usual concerns about authenticity, editing, and filtration, but these are offset by speed.

This revolution will not be televised, was the title of a hit song during the early 1970s, when rebellion was in the air. Television is passé; now revolutions will be tweeted and blogged. The very basis of information dissemination is changing. Establishments of all kinds, everywhere, must start thinking about this seriously.