CIMA-Iran

ConclusionThe aim of this report is not to question the value of supporting Internet freedom in closed societies such as Iran.Rather, the intent is to provide a picture of how difficult it is to achieve progress in such countries. In times oftightening budgets for media development work, it is worth considering where best to place one’s bets. Whiletrying to improve access to the Internet for Iranians is a worthy goal in terms of foreign policy and human rights,it is less clear whether such efforts have had much immediate impact in improving Iran’s media landscape, or inconvincing the senior leadership that Internet freedom is indeed a worthy pursuit.Looking forward, more work needs to be done to understand what kind of aid policies and approaches are mosteffective in societies such as Iran. Many donors would like to support the groups that are struggling to maintainopen Internet access, and the immediate goal of helping Internet activists preserve some modicum of Internetfreedom is clearly a worthy endeavor. The longer term goal will likely require not only preserving as manyfreedoms as possible now, but also a broader, more integrated program of support to the media sector thatincludes a combination of technical assistance and engagement with both civil society and the intelligentsia.Until such a wide engagement is possible, the outlook for freedom in Iran will likely remain gloomy.20 Center for International Media Assistance