Persiankiwi is a user of the

microblog Microblogging is a form of social network that permits only short posts. They "allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links",. Retrieved June 5, 2014 which may be the major reason for ...

service

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, who was one of the most followed sources of information about the

2009 Iranian election protests After incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared victory in the 2009 Iranian presidential election, protests broke out in major cities across Iran in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. The protests con ...

. Persiankiwi was also referred to as a "popular opposition site," and "one of the most reliable and prolific Iranians on Twitter." Persiankiwi attracted readers due to an authentic style, lack of aggressiveness, and up-to-date information apparently coming directly from

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

. When most foreign journalists had left the country and Iranian state media outlets were thought to be biased in favor of their own government, Persiankiwi became one of the most important sources of information from inside Iran and was frequently cited in media reports around the world. Persiankiwi's tweets temporarily stopped on 24 June 2009 after describing a violent confrontation between protestors and the

Basij The Basij ( fa, بسيج, lit. "The Mobilization"), Niru-ye Moghāvemat-e Basij ( fa, نیروی مقاومت بسیج, "Resistance Mobilization Force"), full name Sâzmân-e Basij-e Mostaz'afin ( fa, سازمان بسیج مستضعفین, "The ...

militia. It read "

Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...

– you are the creator of all and all must return to you – Allah Akbar," sparking concern about the fate of the person behind the username. Rumors arose that Persiankiwi had been arrested, or had been forced to post news under a new alias due to a compromised account. Persiankiwi resumed tweeting on 14 February 2011. Twitter user Oxfordgirl told several of her followers that she was awaiting a confirmation from persiankiwi to verify his or her identity. The identity and location of the person behind Persiankiwi have not been made public. The user's anonymity prevents a clear picture from being drawn, but efforts have been made to analyze the writing style.Wo ist persiankiwi?
''

Die Tageszeitung ''Die Tageszeitung'' (, “The Daily Newspaper”), is counted as being one of modern Germany's most important newspapers and amongst the top seven. taz is stylized as ''die tageszeitung'' and commonly referred to as ''taz'', is a cooperative-own ...

'' 26 June 2009 Persiankiwi should not be confused with ''Persiankiwie'' who for a while posed as Persiankiwi on Twitter. Warnings went out on Twitter that ''Persiankiwie'' was a government operative and shortly afterwards this profile disappeared from Twitter.

References

External links

Persiankiwi on Twitter
{{Iranian presidential election, 2009 footer 2009 Iranian presidential election protests 2009 in Iran 2009 riots Twitter accounts Movements for civil rights Nonviolent resistance movements History of civil rights and liberties in Iran 2000s political riots