Iranians Imprisoned By Surveillance.

Fascinated by the surveillance of emails, Facebook accounts, phone calls, and conversations by the American government and companies, prompted me to look at surveillance in foreign countries who do not have a democracy. I found one article in particular about the surveillance in Iran that takes it much more serious than the United States. In the United States we live in a democracy, which gives individuals a lot of say in our government, a government in which one person doe not possess all the power, but rather shared among different levels. In Iran people are denied the right to speak up and voice their own individual opinions, the regime wants to control not only the country,but what and how their people say things. Because of their need for control they take surveillance a step further than just monitoring what is sent and to whom, they are getting rid of the threat by jailing the offender when a message that threatens their power is sent. In my opinion regardless of the fact that Iranians do not possess freedom of speech, it is not right to imprison someone based on one's opinions or ideas, I do understand the threat that the people against the Iranian regime poses, but in some cases people are being jailed for no other reason than just to be jailed. "A group who posted what appeared to be a relatively innocuous video of them lip-syncing to Pharrel’s hit song ‘Happy’ found themselves hauled to jail " (Doug Bernard). The video was innocent, just people having a good time singing together, but yet the government found it necessary to have them arrested. The regime was not threatened therefore the supposed suspects, just become innocent victims of the regime.  The purpose of the surveillance may seem necessary in particular situations, but in other situations it is just being abused by the regime's need to have complete control. Despite the regime's multiple threats and arrests, people still choose to speak and let their voices be heard. I think those who still speak out are courageous because they are not blind to the actions that the regime has taken against those who oppose to them, but they do not let that stop them. Personally I do not know how to stop the regime from abusing their power, but I do know that the intensity of their surveillance is overwhelming. I realize that freedom of speech is not a human right, but the regime's actions to arrest the innocent is not justified. This article reminds me of how blessed we are to have a democracy in the United States in which we have a say in who is in power and how they govern our country. If our current president abuses his power, he can be impeached and then we elect a new leader for our country, but the regime is not replaced unless it is overthrown, one can be in power for life which imprisons the citizens of Iran for many years to come. 
http://www.payvand.com/news/14/aug/1157.html