By I&D guest blogger Hamid Tehrani, Iran editor of Global Voices and co-founder of the March 18 Movement
The Iranian Presidential election will take place this Friday, and YouTube has been used both by Iranian citizens and politicians as a dynamic instrument during the campaign. Here, I would like to share a few examples to illustrate how YouTube has become a vibrant, interactive medium of expression in the hands of Iranians.
1. Fact Checking: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied, during a televised debate with one of his reformist candidates that he ever claimed a “halo” surrounded him during a U.N. address in 2005. A video clip on YouTube shows that Ahmadinejad did in fact argue that a “light enveloped him during his address to the U.N. General Assembly and that the crowd stared without blinking during the entire speech.”
Read the rest at Internet & Democracy Blog » YouTube Shows Different Faces of Iranian Election.
Our friend, Hamid Tehrani, presents an interesting overview of the campaign on YouTube. It seems that YouTube has caught up with electioneering in Iran! Ahmadinejad, like other politicos before him, is learning that recordings can come back to bite you.
