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Time of India
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Iran-Israel war: What tools are used to censor reporting?
AP image Early into the second week of the war between Israel and Iran, accessing information about the conflict has become more difficult in several ways. Last week, Iran first throttled internet speed and eventually shut down its internet. Iran's government claimed Israeli drones were operating via SIM card internet connections and that the internet shutdown was necessary to limit Israel's ability to wage cyber warfare. Consequently, websites, mobile apps and online messengers are inaccessible in Iran. That means news Iranians receive on the war, the death toll, destruction or this past weekend's US strikes comes solely from Iran's government and its state-led media. Iranian authorities have also banned international media correspondents, such as dw journalists, from reporting on the conflict on the ground. "My mother asked me to tell her what was happening," an Iranian man who lives in Germany and was able to call his mother in Tehran for a few minutes during the weekend told dw. He asked for his name not to be published for fear of reprisal. "She had no idea which parts of Tehran were hit." While obtaining news about the ongoing conflict from within Israel is possible, Israeli censor guidelines were updated last week. At the time of this publication, the discussion on a further tightening of the rules was ongoing. These guidelines are legally binding for local journalists and international correspondents. The new regulations affect Tania Krämer, the head of dw's Jerusalem studio. "Until now, any footage of military installations or troops had to be approved by the military censor," she said from Jerusalem. "Also, the faces of soldiers had to be blurred." Such footage has to be submitted to the military censor prior to publication. "On average, [the military censor office] releases the videos quite quickly," she said. Starting this week, rules have been updated. "Now it appears that we are not allowed to show live locations where missiles hit," Krämer said. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz , Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Communication Minister Shlomo Karhi have issued new guidelines to the police allowing them to remove, or even arrest, journalists if they believe that media outlets are documenting sites or locations near them. Israel's shrinking press freedom "In Israel, all media outlets are compelled by law to submit any article or report related to security issues to the military censor," said Martin Roux, head of the Crisis Desk at Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international NGO that defends press freedom, pluralism and the independence of journalism. "However, media outlets are not allowed to disclose the intervention of the military censor to the public," he told DW. He added that while this has been in practice for many years, censorship has increased since the Hamas terror attacks on Israel on October 7 2023. "Members of the Israeli government have used aggressive rhetoric against media outlets reporting on these wars in a way that contravenes the official narrative," Roux said. According to Haggai Matar, executive director of the independent Israeli online outlet +972 Magazine , Israel's military censors barred 1,635 articles from publication in 2024. "This is the most extreme level of censorship since 2011," he wrote in a recent article on the website. While he echoed Roux's view that this is driven by various conflicts in the region, the military censors have not disclosed official reasons. The latest press freedom index by Reporters Without Borders ranked Israel at 112 of 180 countries in 2025. This is a drop by 11 ranks compared to 2024, following an earlier drop from 2023. Further incidents, such as the ban of the Al Jazeera TV network, have increasingly curbed Israel's otherwise diverse media landscape. Al Jazeera TVwas taken off air in Israel in May 2024, and their Ramallah studio was closed due to a "threat to national security," according to the Israeli military. Israel alleged that an employee of the broadcaster was a commander of Hamas, which is widely categorized as terror organization. Since then, Al Jazeera, financed by Qatar, which maintains ties with Hamas, is banned from reporting in Israel. The state-funded Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation Kan also came under government pressure in 2024. Ministers had called for privatization, saying there was no need or room for public broadcasting. In early 2025, however, this decision was postponed. In February, all of Israel's state-funded institutions had to sever ties with the country's established Haaretz newspaper after Haaretz publisher Amos Schocken criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. At the same time, pro-government outlets are increasingly being bankrolled, said +972 Magazine editor Matar. And yet, the tech savvy Israeli population is able to access information across the internet. Also, all apps and messengers are working, including alerts on incoming rockets from Iran. Israel also regularly announces online which areas in Tehran and other cities it plans to target. However, the internet clampdown in Iran has left people there largely unaware of these warnings. Internet shutdown part of broader censorship "Censorship has long been a central pillar of the Islamic regime's strategy to suppress dissenting voices," Damon Golriz, a strategic analyst at The Hague Institute for Geopolitics, told DW. "social media is a crucial source of information for Iranians, but it also serves the regime as a powerful tool in its war on independent narratives through misinformation, disinformation and the repression of even anonymous users," Golriz said. Amid the current internet shutdown, several prominent activists have been warned or arrested, and in one case, the family of a London-based Iranian journalist was harassed, he added. For Mahtab Gholizadeh, an Iranian journalist based in Berlin, Iran's increased censorship goes beyond preventing Israeli cyber infiltration or keeping information about damage or the rising death toll from the population. "It is fear of internal unrest," she told DW. "The internet is a powerful catalyst for public mobilization, and the regime knows that in times of crisis, digital connectivity can serve as a spark for collective action against an authoritarian regime." In her view, however, the internet clampdown won't last long. "The Iranian regime knows that it will be unable to maintain a complete shutdown as technical and economic constraints will eventually force it to reconnect," she said, adding that this past weekend, a few selected journalists and loyal media were already granted access to what Iran calls the "white internet", Iran's state controlled internet.
DW
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- DW
DW's 'My Persian Love Story' explores love across cultures
The new fictional video series from DW explores the joys and challenges of a binational relationship between an Iranian student and a German partner. An in-house collaboration between DW's Persian Service and its Life and Style department, the series consists of 15 short-form sketches created specifically for social media. The episodes follow a German-Iranian couple as they navigate everyday life—from their first meeting in Germany to planning a wedding—highlighting both the friction and beauty that can arise when cultures collide. My Persian Love Story humorously tackles everyday situations where cultural misunderstandings can occur, such as who pays on the first date, or the awkwardness of loud nose-blowing in public, offering a light-hearted yet insightful look at how small habits can reveal deeper cultural norms and societal expectations. Filmed in Berlin and presented in both English and Farsi, the series features a diverse cast and bilingual editorial teams. It reflects DW's core values of freedom, tolerance, democracy, women's rights, and cultural diversity. Empowering women through storytelling My Persian Love Story was developed with a special focus on female audiences, particularly in Iran, where access to independent media and social platforms has been increasingly restricted. DW is being blocked in Iran and reaches its audiences in the country by promoting various tools for circumventing censorship. The new series aims to fill a critical gap by offering content that resonates with women and highlights their perspectives in a culturally sensitive yet empowering way. Where to watch it The series was premiered on June 1, 2025, and can be watched on DW's Persian and Euromaxx Instagram channels: @dw_persian | @dw_euromaxx
Time of India
28-04-2025
- Climate
- Time of India
Watch: People left reeling in chaos as major blackout disrupts lives in Spain, Portugal, and France
Crowds amid massive blackout (Screengrab from video taken from X) A massive power outage on Monday has left millions across Spain, Portugal, and parts of southern France reeling in chaos, with widespread disruptions to transport and communication systems. Videos circulating on social media show people walking in the dark through subway stations, airports, and city streets as the outage paralyzed services, including flights and public transit. Crowds could be seen forced to walk on the streets as public transport came to a standstill. — dw_sports (@dw_sports) The blackout, which began around 12.30 PM local time, affected critical infrastructure in several regions. Spain's state electricity network operator, Red Electrica, confirmed the restoration of power to the northern and southern regions, but communications were severely impacted, with multiple services experiencing delays and cancellations. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villas For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Villas In Dubai | Search Ads View Deals Undo In Spain, Madrid's Barajas International Airport and several regional airports lost power, while metro stations across the country saw trains immobilized, trapping passengers between stations. The outage also reached Lisbon and surrounding areas, with Portugal's national distributor, E-Redes, attributing the disruption to "a problem with the European electricity system ." The company initiated selective power cuts to stabilize the network. In both countries, public transportation systems came to a standstill. Metro services halted in Lisbon, and non-functioning traffic lights caused significant congestion in cities. The Spanish Parliament and RTVE's newsroom were also affected, as well as local communities in Barcelona, where residents shared outage updates via WhatsApp. While service is being gradually restored, authorities have not yet provided an estimate of the number of individuals impacted or a clear timeline for full recovery. The Spanish government has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the blackout, with Prime Minister's office officials continuing to monitor the situation closely.
