Text of report by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website on 26 April
The Blogger [www.blogger.com] website that enables users to create their own blogs for free has reportedly been filtered in Iran. The Kaleme website, which is close to opposition leader Mirhoseyn Musavi, reports that Blogger was filtered on April 24. The filtering appears aimed at tightening internet censorship and limiting online expression.
Kaleme says the move signals a decision by the Iranian establishment to block service providers and exclude blogs en masse instead of one by one. The Iranian government filters tens of thousands of websites and blogs, and in recent years a number of bloggers have ended up in jail for their writings.
Blogging is extremely popular among Iranians, especially among young people.
(Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website, Washington, D.C., in English 26 Apr 10 via BBC Monitoring)
