The book, Zahra’s Paradise, is a timely example of how the Internet can be used as a platform to support online activists in totalitarian regimes. The book started off as a web-comic that covered news of Iran’s Green Movement, and was published a year later in the United States on September 13, 2011, by graphic novel publisher, First Second Book. The book was created by a Persian writer,...

The following article first appeared on The Huffington Post. To access to the original, click HERE. As the 1979 revolution was reaching a climax, for those who were euphoric over its possible triumph, few had imagined worrying about Ayatollah Khomeini's implementation of compulsory hejab. "Bringing down the tyrant!," they chanted. This was the rallying cry from a wide spectrum of...

The following article first appeared on CNET. To access, click HERE. Iranian officials are hoping to team up with Facebook in an effort to remove Pages and Groups that feature pornography or are soliciting prostitution. More broadly, the Iranian police force has announced plans to cleanse the Internet of content its country deems inappropriate. The new tidbit comes from the semi-official...

We would like to invite all of our readers, including our student ambassadors, to participate in a conference call with an Iranian activist who has been working as Iran program manager at Freedom House. Parvaneh Vahidmanesh is also an active cyber dissident spreading her message through her Facebook and Twitter accounts. Parvaneh Vahidmanesh and Solmaz Sharif, CyberDissidents.org’s Iran...

A deadly attack on Wednesday, July 18, delivered the harshest blow yet to President Bashar al-Assad's regime, bringing the bloodshed into his inner circle. Three top officials were killed and a number of others were wounded in an explosion at a national security building in Damascus, state TV reported. Iranian journalist Borzou Daragahi tweeted:   #Syria: Opposition activist says blast was...