UPDATED Iran Special: EA Unfiltered by Authorities

UPDATE 21 JUNE: It looks like our award may have been taken away. Word comes in from a source in Tehran that the filter on EA has been removed.

UPDATE 14 JUNE, 2030 GMT: Word comes in from Iran that the Iranian authorities have removed the filter on Race for Iran, perhaps their most vocal supporter amongst non-Iranian websites.

EA, however, continues to wear its badge of honour proudly --- we are still blocked.



All of which raises an intriguing question. Are Iranian officials so jittery that they slapped on a mass filter of all WordPress-based sites and are now "clearing" those like RFI who are seen as being on their side? Or was this an example of a bureaucracy which made a mistake in its cyber-policy?

In the 366 days that we have covered post-election Iran, we have received many plaudits, but one achievement has always eluded us.

Until now.

This weekend we learned ---after hundreds of blogposts, thousands of tweets, and countless comments on EA --- that we have finally been filtered in Iran.

The Latest from Iran (13 June): And So It Goes On….

We are not very keen on censorship. We remember also that we are not the only recipient of this award: thousands of other websites have been blocked or filtered by the Iranian regime. We hope that readers in Iran, and in other countries which filter websites like ours, still find a way to reach us, and we thank those who assist in that effort.

For the moment, however, we would like to bask in the glory of this recognition. Surely we can appreciate that our dedication to the promotion of the Iranian people rather than the agenda of the Iranian state, our belief that "Iran" should not be reduced to the nuclear issue, our hope that rights and justice are not merely rhetorical playthings has finally been acknowledged by the powers that be in Tehran?

But wait....

We learn that we were not alone in receiving the Unsafe to Read accolade yesterday. It appears that Race for Iran --- perhaps the most vocal, self-promoting website defending the Iranian Government --- was also put on the blacklist.

Sigh --- I guess anyone can get a Bad Foreign Agent of Pernicious Velvet Evil award from President Ahmadinejad and his friends these days.