Goodreads now blocked in Iran
For several years, Goodreads has been flying under the radar of the Iranian government, which has a track record of blocking their citizens' access to information on the web. News broke yesterday that Iran will begin blocking Gmail. Among our 3 million members, we are happy to have 114,031 Iranian members who have added 714,626 books to their shelves. As reported by the Los Angeles Times in 2008, Goodreads has provided an online forum where Iranians participate not only in robust discussions of literature, but also, by natural extension, healthy debates about politics. We have been proud to provide this safe space for honest opinions.
Last Friday, February 5, 2010, we were saddened to see Goodreads traffic in Iran plummet (screenshot at left), which can only mean that Goodreads has joined the ranks of sites blocked by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's regime. One Iranian Goodreads member wrote to us and confirmed the news: "your site is recently been filtered by our horrible govrnmt. pls help us! spread it...books make no harm."
We couldn't agree more. Books make no harm. In an interview last year, Goodreads Author Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, commented presciently on the Iranian phenomenon on Goodreads: "People constantly find ways of connecting. If [Goodreads] is banned in Iran, we need support for those people who just want to connect to the world." Please spread the word that books should be enjoyed, discussed, and shared by everyone.

Last Friday, February 5, 2010, we were saddened to see Goodreads traffic in Iran plummet (screenshot at left), which can only mean that Goodreads has joined the ranks of sites blocked by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's regime. One Iranian Goodreads member wrote to us and confirmed the news: "your site is recently been filtered by our horrible govrnmt. pls help us! spread it...books make no harm."
We couldn't agree more. Books make no harm. In an interview last year, Goodreads Author Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, commented presciently on the Iranian phenomenon on Goodreads: "People constantly find ways of connecting. If [Goodreads] is banned in Iran, we need support for those people who just want to connect to the world." Please spread the word that books should be enjoyed, discussed, and shared by everyone.
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Victoria Twead

I can't imagine the government telling me I'm not allowed to do that anymore. How sad that an entire country can be denied the right to discuss and learn about books; to expand their horizons, to dream of different worlds, to increase their knowledge and awareness. Things like this remind me how fortunate I am to be an American, and that there are too many freedoms I take for granted.

I don't agree wholly. Books indoctrinate people in subtle ways, through what they may think is mere entertainment. That's a way in which they can be very harmful, almost unnoticed.


A book sat on the shelf, unread, does not do harm -- that's true. It has no power to reach out and force someone to read it. But books don't just sit on the shelf unread.
Note that I'm not saying books always cause harm. If they can cause harm, they can also cause good. And even if the books seem harmful in themselves, they can open discussions that wouldn't be touched on otherwise. Books can and should be questioned. If you say they can't do harm, I don't think you can say they do good, either.

Books can be harmful the same way drinking (too much) water can be harmful or doing (too much) exercise can be harmful.
I think the phrase "Books make no harm" in its _literal_ sense is not correct, because certain book with extreme ideologies can be harmful to certain people (kids or people who does not understand the harmful aspect of such ideologies).
However, in this context, it is fair to say that books can do no harm (generally speaking).
To be on topic. I hope this filtering is temporary and they will soon get access back to site like goodreads.

It is pure suppression and manic control from the government, perhaps under fear of one of their citizens becoming the next great person to spark a change for the better in their country purely from education.
-Well, "where there's a will, there's a way". Even if people have to go underground, the world is becoming aware of what's happening on their side, hopefully some help will get to those who’re seeking for it. *fingers crossed*
People will get to read; be it electronic, email, .pdf or sending books by post, notes or just simple letters. ;)
(Time to go back old school style, perhaps)

I agree with those above who said books do no harm. In general. We all have choices in life and books do not make anyone do anything. Much like hearing a song or watching movies. There will always be influences in our world and we have to decide what to do or not do. This is meaning adults, not children of course. And with the children, again, books do no harm. The PARENTS do harm by GIVING/READING an inappropriate book to a child.
I'm surprised readers would think anything else personally.

A book cannot force you to do something, in and of itself. However, books can shape you, in ways you don't know about -- in ways the author doesn't think about, perhaps. And that's where they can do harm. My opinion is the result of study, thought, and experience.

Besides, most people on goodreads probably read quite widely, but Average Person? Not necessarily. A bestseller or two sometimes, perhaps.

But people always find a way to get what they need. And I'm sure this won't stop avid readers in that country.

Influence Nikki. Influences do not MAKE someone DO something - they still have CHOICES. And, as for the parents not knowing, I'm a parent and it's my JOB to know. If I do not know, that's MY fault. My daughter reads nothing that I don't deem okay. Until she's old enough to decide for herself and make choices that's how it stays. Poor choices or wise ones, they are still choices and we all have them regardless of influence.
This can go hand in hand with bad parenting. Good parents know what books to hand their children and what not to and they do their best to teach their children.
Nikki, your comment about parents basically excuses parents. Do you realize that?
"knowing about the theories" doesn't mean anything when it comes to this IMO. It makes no sense. A book, a song, a video game, a movie, whatever else anyone can think of DOES NOT make someone do something - they do it by CHOICE that they made themselves.

As a parent, do you ensure that your child reads books that contain a range of genders? Cultures? Disabilities? Sexualities? Religions? Do you ensure that your child understands that different races, disabilities, genders and sexualities are okay, through a range of different books that do not exclude these people? That's a rhetorical question, you don't have to answer it and I'm not interrogating you about how you choose to raise your child, incidentally. I'm just trying to illustrate my point.
I was allowed to read whatever I wanted: if it troubled my parents in any way, they would discuss it with me, but they would never stop me reading something. They were pretty responsible about that -- after I read Enid Blyton, for example, my parents spoke to me about gender roles and racism and classism. Even so, I'm not sure I came across much in fiction of ethnic diversity, and certainly nothing about disability or sexuality. So I grew up with an image of a white-predominated society (which was a sheer lie, where I grew up), populated with people who could all do the same things and aspire to the same heights, people who were all of the same class as me, and, most hurtfully, people who were not of the same sexuality as me -- I was abnormal in my own eyes and in the eyes of many of my peers. That's just one example of how I think books can do harm -- they can teach you a way of viewing things that isn't at all true.
They can also be used in a similar way to indoctrinate children to a parent's ideas. This might be in the best faith -- for example, a parent who believes homosexuality is completely wrong and means you'll go to hell. Then they would monitor the child's reading, not allowing them to read anything gay-positive, and push them towards books about how wonderful marriage between a man and a woman is, and gradually in this way teach a child that sex before marriage is wrong, that marriage is only between a man and a woman, and thus that homosexuality is wrong.
There are others: e.g. books full of evil ideas (though I've never read it, I suspect "Mein Kampf" would be an example), and books that are used by people to justify evil ideas (the Bible being one of those)...

I stand by what I said and I think what you're trying to do is work around the situation. I think that's also what's wrong with a lot of parents today - everyone makes excuses. :( If we just stood up and did out jobs - properly - our children wouldn't be "hurt" by books. ;)
Thanks for the conversation, I do appreciate it, but now I'm off to read my book that I want to get finished!

"knowing about the theories" doesn't mean anything when it comes to this IMO. It makes no sense. A book, a song, a video game, a movie, whatever else anyone can think of DOES NOT make someone do something - they do it by CHOICE that they made themselves.
Why do you think that? I don't think it's a good thing that people don't recognise how important literature is -- even you're dismissing how much it can shape the way someone thinks, even while telling me that you're very careful about what you let your child read. I think people should examine what books teach you that you don't think about. I know I try to think about it, because I don't dismiss that quiet influence.


I am so sorry - I am NOT a rude person so please don't think that!
And it's really not so much that I think you're "wrong" as I disagree if that makes any sense. You could very well be right while I'm wrong. (I've been wrong enough in the past.) I just disagree.
Another time I'd definitely get into a debate because I can tell you can get into it without getting ignorant (unlike some people) but I just don't want to tonight.
I really am sorry Nikki - I meant nothing by it at all.


I can tell it's a subject you're passionate about and I don't know much about blogs but if it'll start people thinking it's a good thing! Thanks Nikki - I hope you don't think I'm rude anymore! :)


Nonetheless, I agree that goodreads shouldn't be blocked in Iran. The blockage of discussion and debate is what does harm to ordinary people, and can only be of benefit to people who stand to gain from silent oppression.