Iran takes steps to turn down Internet use

Jeff Horwich Sep 24, 2012
HTML EMBED:
COPY

Iran takes steps to turn down Internet use

Jeff Horwich Sep 24, 2012
HTML EMBED:
COPY

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in New York today for the U.N. General Assembly. And over the weekend, Iran’s government announced it was turning off Google. Officials also said plans are moving ahead to place the country’s web users on a walled off intranet — as opposed to the global Internet the rest of us use.

There are two competing theories behind the move. One: censorship; the other: protecting against cyber attacks.

“I think the Iranians are mostly worried about cyber-security at this point,” says Darrell West director of Governance Studies and The Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.