Iran's Answer to the Virus Outbreak: Cut the Internet - We know there is misinformation caused deliberately by humans but will we see more of this?
Moments after Iran announced that a top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader had died as a result of the coronavirus, the government blocked access to the Persian version of Wikipedia. Netblocks, a digital rights advocacy group that tracks internet disruptions around the world, said that there has also been widespread internet disruptions at night in certain parts of the country, including Qom, where the outbreak is believed to have originated.
At times of crisis, restricting access to the internet is an increasingly popular method for authoritarian regimes seeking to control the narrative. [My comment: And some 'democracies' actually have their politicians creating the misinformation].
The question is whether governments are all being fully transparent about their virus outbreaks, and whether their population can see this and confirm or deny it. We are already seeing Google drop all apps as well as some social sites filtering out all mention of the virus. It's a two-edged sword though as you lose the negative and misinformation but you also lose the positive and informative messages too. It's a real pity that the negative side of humans comes out in this way. It's the age-old mantra of the very few (1% or 2%) that make all the noise ends up losing services and increasing censorship for the many.
This may be a good time anyway to register with a peer-to-peer social network to stay in communication. I see on Scuttlebutt Chinese citizens are able to communicate and there is no central server to block.
See Iran's Answer to the Coronavirus Outbreak: Cut the Internet
Iran is scrambling to control the coronavirus narrative after a prominent adviser to Supreme Leader Khamenei got infected and died.
source https://gadgeteer.co.za/irans-answer-virus-outbreak-cut-internet-we-know-there-misinformation-caused-deliberately-humans
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