An American government attempt to help Iranian dissidents backfires

FOR Iran’s beleaguered opposition, the internet is a potent weapon and a big hope. During the Green movement’s protests in 2009, activists used Twitter and Facebook, often from mobile phones, to upload videos of police brutality and spread messages of support and news of new demonstrations. The authorities responded not only by cracking heads, but cracking computers: trying to trace users, block services and close websites.

Outsiders found the struggle inspirational. Austin Heap, a 26-year-old hacker born in Ohio, decided to develop anticensorship software to foil the authorities’ efforts. He named the product Haystack, and began earlier this year to distribute it to Iranian opposition leaders. The publicity was excellent: he was named “Innovator of the Year” by the Guardian, a British newspaper, and gained a plaudit from Hillary Clinton, America’s secretary of state. The Treasury, State Department and Commerce Department hastened to grant Mr Heap a licence to export the software to Iran—not normally a favoured destination for American sales efforts, especially cryptographical ones. …