338 Mediated Publics
nother massive protest by bloggers was against A National Geographic
magazine. In its November 2004 issue, the magazine published a map using
the term “Arabian Gulf” instead of “Persian Gulf.” A group of Internet
users and bloggers began a protest movement, organizing a petition that
was signed by tens of thousands of people. This protest was extensively
reported on by Iranian newspapers, and ultimately forced the Iranian
Parliament, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and government spokespeople
to protest publicly. In a related protest, the Iranian blogger and illustrator
Pendar Yousefi created a “Google bomb”: typing the words “Arabian Gulf”
into Google’s search engine elicited a spoof message: “The Gulf you are
looking for does not exist. Try Persian Gulf.”^35
loggers also show their concern for and solidarity with Weblogistan B
members and their personal problems. The case of Nūshi va Jūjehāsh
[Nooshi and her chicks] is an instance of bloggers showing support for a
non-political cause. “Nooshi” (a pseudonym) started her weblog to bring
attention to her problem: as a divorced woman, she is not allowed to have
custody of her children under Islamic law. This was one of the first Iranian
“baby blogs” (also called “mother blogs”); there are now many others.
Sometimes Nooshi wrote about her problems with her ex-husband and the
Islamic judiciary, asking for legal advice and help from other bloggers. Her
problem became poignant when the husband took her children and did
not bring them back. This occurred simultaneously with a hunger strike by
Akbar Ganji, a famous dissident journalist in Evin prison.^36 Many politi-
cal bloggers have organized national and international protests to save his
life. But the attention that Nooshi received in non-political networks of
Weblogistan was also very important. A few months later, in a telephone
interview, Nooshi talked about this event and its impact on her life:
Many political bloggers have protested, “Why, when Mr. Ganji
is dying, are people in Weblogistan talking about this woman
whose problem is so similar to that of any other woman in
Iran?” I don’t know, maybe we are afraid to be involved in
political issues. Mr. Ganji is a big name, a famous name in the
political arena of Iran. Taking his defense was maybe danger-
ous for many bloggers. But I am nobody, I do not even have a
real name here, just a pseudonym, but my problem is known
by many others. Many other Iranian women have the same