Last night Twitter exploded at the sad news of Michael Jackson’s death. It is impossible to deny, whatever your opinion on him as a person, that he was a musical legend. As we saw with Diana’s death (which it is being compared to) human nature is such that the reaction by the public and media is going to be huge and will last for quite some time. As I saw the tweets fly by I noticed one that mentioned Michael Jackson was all but one of the current trending topics (terms most frequently mentioned on Twitter, updated in real time).

On seeing this, my thoughts turned to Iran. I considered the impact that the Twitter and media coverage of Jackson’s death could have on the situation over there. As I sent out a couple of Tweets about Iran one person replied “we won’t forget #Iran. It will still be a story when Michael has gone from the front pages” whilst another said “lets not make them our sick patient that has to be cured. let them sort it out themselves”.

I am no expert on Iran. I have been trying to educate myself in the present and past situation in the country. Mostly I have just wanted to show support because I believe that the knowledge people are behind you can give you the energy and strength to continue fighting when you might have otherwise given up. Twitter has allowed the Iranians who want to speak out to see that the world is behind them, and that a majority want the injustice to end.

Using the analogy of “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” I don’t believe that Twitter is giving anyone a fish. Twitter is enabling the closest thing Iranian’s have to anonymity in speech, allowing them to tell the rest of the world what is really happening. The people of Iran are doing this for themselves. Twitter and the people that use it are merely the fishing rod to allow them to speak out.

This information fed through Twitter has given the media more to talk about. It has no doubt kept it on the global radar and engaged people, including many that may have otherwise not noticed how serious the problems are. It has kept pressure on world leaders to act, and kept it something “worth” talking about (I say “worth” in the sense of media worth – will it sell papers? or get the web traffic? – not in the sense of judging how worthy the situation in Iran is of attention)

Whilst the world media focus is on Michael Jackson, Iran is almost off the radar. Flicking through the Metro this morning I noticed the first mention of Iran was on page 16. Even more worrying at 9am today all mention of Iran had fallen off the front of bbc.co.uk and the BBC News front page. With the limelight elsewhere it gives the officials and leaders of Iran the chance to further silence those who object without the intense media glare of recent weeks. It is vital for the people of Iran (that’s normal people like us who just want to live their lives without fear of persecution) to have the exposure.

I am not suggesting we wade in and tell Iranians how to do things. They are capable of sorting out their own country and their own issues. To suggest otherwise would be arrogant and I think a case of the pot calling the kettle black. But as we live in a society that does have freedom of speech we can help the Iranians who want change, to mobilise and effect that change. World leaders can work to create a situation to restore basic human rights and allow the majority of Iranians to get on with living their lives.

I have no doubt it will still be a story when Michael Jackson’s death ceases to be front page news, but in the meantime let us not forget. Let’s not allow the Iranian officials violation of human rights against those in Iran to go unnoticed.