Proof that what we discuss in class applies to the real world

Last night, as I was reading the news on the BBC’s website, I came across an article that linked in perfectly with our discussion last week on the internet and its pitfalls, “Neda Soltani: ‘The media mix-up that ruined my life’”.  The article is about an Iranian woman who was mistaken for another woman who was killed in Tehran when people went to Facebook searching for the slain woman.  The face of the living Neda Soltani was used in the place of the other, killed woman.  This mistake wasn’t just terrible because it upset the living woman and her friends and family, but it led to a scuffle with the Iranian government over accusations of espionage for the U.S.  Soltani then had to flee Iran, giving up her life with her family and her job as a university professor.  It is frightening to think how a simple mix-up on Facebook spun so far out of control as to steal a woman’s life.