Amir-Ebrahimi 325325Weblogistan: The Emergence of a New Public
Sphere in Iran
Masserat Amir-Ebrahimi
Every day, Internet users around the world challenge, question and even
dismantle different types of authorities, institutions and beliefs.^1 Virtual
actions can thus have an important impact in the physical world and
are particularly significant in countries where people are living under
political, religious, or socio-cultural constraints and repression. In demo-
cratic societies, people have almost the same rights of expression in vir-
tual spaces as they do in physical spaces; thus, filtering and censorship
by governments are generally not practiced, although there are always
limits regarding issues deemed highly controversial and/or illegal, such
as child pornography, criminality or terrorism. In countries where pub-
lic spaces are controlled and monitored by conservative and restrictive
cultural and/or political forces, cyberspace provides a means to circum-
vent the restrictions imposed on these spaces and may in turn become
more “real” for users than physical public spaces. Due to the absence of
the body and of face-to-face relationships, as well as the possibility of hid-
ing one’s real identity, cyberspace becomes in many of these countries an
important space for self-expression, communication and information—
three aspects of life that are limited and monitored under authoritarian
states. Of course, cyberspace—like physical space—can also be limited by
governments or by customs, traditions and religion; but this censorship
and control is neither absolute nor exhaustive because of the nature of the
technology, the technological competence of youth, and the diverse pos-
sibilities specific to the Internet.