Iran Pro-Regime Voices Multiply Online : Via Wall Street Journal.

Ariel Silverstone, an Internet security expert in Atlanta, says the number of pro-government messages on Twitter in the past few days has increased to about 100 every six hours from just one every 12 hours or so earlier in the post-election period.

It is impossible to determine whether the comments come from members of Iran's government or simply supporters. Attempts to reach such users of Twitter weren't successful.

But Internet experts see clues in certain patterns of use. In the case of Vagheeiat, the user biography on Twitter says the person who sent the message is a member of a unit of the Revolutionary Guard, which oversees the Basij. The user's profile links to the Web site of the Revolutionary Guard unit. Vagheeiat used Twitter on only one day, last Thursday.

On Twitter, users can receive the messages of others by choosing to "follow" them, or joining in conversations on a certain topic. Many of the Iranian users sending pro-government missives opened accounts only a few days ago, and have few, if any, followers -- nor are they following anyone else, Mr. Silverstone said. Also pointing to an orchestrated effort, some pro-regime messages are simultaneously blasted from different online accounts at regular intervals. Among them: "Mousavi the Instigator is in custody," referring to opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.
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