US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said today that Iranians who use Internet Technology to report on the Iranian government’s crackdown on the opposition movement have been an inspiration for the world.

“Despite an intense campaign of government intimidation, brave citizen journalists in Iran continue using technology to show the world and their fellow citizens what is happening inside their country. In speaking out on behalf of their own human rights, the Iranian people have inspired the world. And their courage is redefining how technology is used to spread truth and expose injustice,” said Clinton, during a policy address on Internet freedom in Washington.

She cited as an example how mobile phone video technology was used to film the death of Neda Aqa-Soltan during the post-election crackdown on protesters in Iran as a means of spreading information about the Iranian government’s actions around the world.

“In the demonstrations that followed Iran’s presidential elections, grainy cell phone footage of a young women’s bloody murder provided a digital indictment of the government’s brutality,” said Clinton.

Addressing an audience of several hundred people including members of Congress and the diplomatic corps, at the Newseum, a museum about the history of the news industry, Clinton called for unobstructed access to the Internet for all citizens of the world.