Iranian censors clamp down on bloggers.

Article Highlights.

Iranian authorities are stepping up arrests and pressure on popular bloggers as part of a wider Internet clampdown launched after hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became president last year, ending years of freewheeling Web access that once made Iran among the most vibrant online locales in the Middle East.

The Internet censors are busy. Their targets include sexual content, international politics, local grumbling, chat rooms and anything else that makes the Islamic leadership uneasy. Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, a prominent human rights lawyer, estimates at least 50 bloggers have been detained since last year.

The cyber-squeeze, however, is seen as more than a broad slap at dissent. It shows vividly what authorities can and can't control.

The Islamic establishment is able to filter the Web through its oversight of all Iran's Internet service providers, as well as media, cinema, literature and other arts. The government also uses the Internet to promote is own messages. State-run television on Sunday announced the launch of Ahmadinejad's own blog — http://www.ahmadinejad.ir — where he writes about his childhood, the Islamic revolution and the Iran- Iraq war.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060814/...log_backlash_3

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