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OONI report on Belarus blocking websites
by Maria Xynou 16 Sep '20

16 Sep '20

Hello, We published a report documenting recent censorship events in Belarus amid ongoing protests. Our report is available here: https://ooni.org/post/2020-belarus-internet-outages-website-censorship/ We prepared this report in collaboration with folks from Human Constanta and the Digital Observers Community Belarus. At least 86 websites appear to have been blocked in Belarus over the last month, according to OONI network measurement data. These include news media, political opposition, pro-democracy, and election related websites, as well as communication and circumvention tool sites. We observe a variance in blocking both in terms of which websites are blocked across ISPs (i.e. different sites blocked on different networks), as well as in terms of censorship techniques. In some cases, when sites are hosted on HTTP, we see that ISPs serve a blockpage. But when sites are hosted on encrypted HTTPS, we observe interference during the TLS handshake (after the TCP connection and before the HTTP request), resulting in a connection reset error. As blocking appears to be implemented during the TLS handshake, this suggests that Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology is likely being used. It seems likely that the SNI is being used to decide whether to block or let connections go through. These findings are limited to our analysis of OONI measurements collected from multiple ISP networks in Belarus between 1st August 2020 to 3rd September 2020, and exclude websites which received limited testing coverage during this period. Further details are available in our report, where we also share our analysis and relevant OONI measurements. This study can be expanded upon through the use of OONI Probe (https://ooni.org/install/) and OONI data (https://ooni.org/data/) We thank all OONI Probe users in Belarus who made this study possible. Please help share our research: https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1306210370516910082 Thanks, Maria. -- Maria Xynou Research & Partnerships Director Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) https://ooni.org/ PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E

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[CFP] [TICS] Topics on Internet Censorship and Surveillance 2020
by Vasilis 11 Sep '20

11 Sep '20

Hello, TICS has a new call for papers that may be of interest to some of you. Please feel free to share widely. Thank you! Online version: https://tics.site/cfp/ # TICS 2020 **Co-located with the [2020 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Joint Conference on Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent Technology (WI-IAT 2020)](http://wi2020.vcrab.com.au/), to be held online.** ## Introduction Over the past years there has been a greater demand from large-scale players such as governments and dominant media companies for online censorship and surveillance, as an understandable reaction against hate speech, copyright violations, and other cases related to citizen compliance with civil laws and regulations by national authorities. Unfortunately, this is often accompanied by a tendency of extensively censoring online content and massively spying on citizens actions. Numerous whistle-blower revelations, leaks from classified documents, and a vast amount of information released by activists, researchers and journalists, reveal evidence of government-sponsored infrastructure that either goes beyond the requirements and scope of the law, or operates without any effective regulations in place. In addition, this infrastructure often supports the interests of big private corporations, such as the companies that enforce online copyright control. Mobile networks are particularly vulnerable to the above points. Due to the nature of their deployment, few actors can achieve far-reaching results, and end-users are left unprotected; we are interested in tracking developments that, without sacrificing functionality and convenience, allow end-users to get control on the amount and breadth of information generated, stored and processed on them. TICS is a special track the area of Internet censorship, surveillance and other adversarial burdens to technology that bring in danger; to a greater extend the safety (physical security and privacy) of its users. Proposals for TICS 2020 should be situated within the field of Internet censorship, network measurements, information controls, surveillance and content moderation. ## Workshop topics The goal of TICS is to raise awareness around the implications of network interference, by inviting researchers from complementary disciplines to consider the effect of their own domain on online censorship and surveillance. Along those lines, we invite submissions that address the following topics: * Research on technologies and policies that build upon advancements on the field of web intelligence to imply blocking, limitation or distortion of the availability of network services and online content * The application of web intelligence concepts such as behavioral modeling, data mining, and social network analytics to target groups and individuals by law enforcement agencies and private corporations * The implications of algorithmic and AI-assisted user content classification (such as for identification of hate-speech, copyright, or disinformation) * Novel techniques that leverage web intelligence to defend netizens against censorship and surveillance, or privacy enhancements to the existing AI infrastructure to mitigate these threats * Measurement methodologies that detect network interference or content moderation based on crowd knowledge or web analytics * The socio-economic consequences and implementation limitations and fallacies of upload filters and recommendation systems * Business models and amendments to legal frameworks which promote the use of web intelligence in ways that build a pluralistic, private, and human-centric experience without violating user freedoms * Privacy on mobile networks * Network measurements * Radio frequency communications * Data leaks * Surveillance * Backdoors into carrier equipment (base stations, antennas, switches, software) * Law enforcement * Telcos security and advance persistent threats * Network espionage and nation state threats (e.g. "operation Soft Cell") * Middleboxes / DPI * Content regulation * Wiretapping * Net neutrality * Data retention * GDPR * Device/radio blocking (Network IMEI) * Ownership of infrastructure, and community-operated networks * Spectrum sharing * License-exempt spectrum ## Important dates * Paper Submission due: September 15th, 2020 * Notification to authors: October 15th, 2020 * Final, camera ready papers, due: November 15th, 2020 * Workshop date: December 14th, 2020 ## Paper Submission **[Paper Submission Page](https://wi-lab.com/cyberchair/2020/wi20/scripts/submit.php?subarea=S0… Submitted papers should be limited to a maximum of 8 pages in the standard ACM 2-column format.\ The ACM Proceedings Manuscript Formatting Guidelines can be found at: <https://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template> ## Committees ### Program Chairs * Vasilis Ververis, Humboldt University Berlin, vasilis(a)tics.site * Marios Isaakidis, University College London, marios(a)tics.site * Gunnar Wolf, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, gwolf(a)tics.site You can contact all of the chairs by addressing your mail to: <chairs(a)tics.site> ### Program Committee * Chrystalenni Loizidou, University of Nicosia * Keith McManamen, Psiphon * Will Scott, University of Michigan ## Past Workshops - [2019 (Valencia, Spain)](https://tics.site/2019) Best regards, ~Vasilis -- PGP Fingerprint: 8FD5 CF5F 39FC 03EB B382 7470 5FBF 70B1 D126 0162 PGP Public Key: https://keys.openpgp.org/vks/v1/by-fingerprint/8FD5CF5F39FC03EBB38274705FBF…

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Fwd: Call for Applications: Internet Shutdown Measurements for Activists
by Maria Xynou 02 Sep '20

02 Sep '20

Hi folks! OONI will be co-facilitating a 6-week training on internet shutdown measurement for human rights advocates in sub-Saharan Africa. The deadline to apply is 21st September 2020. Details are included in the forwarded email below. Please apply, and share with your networks! -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: [KeepItOn] Call for Applications: Internet Shutdown Measurements for Activists Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2020 16:07:29 +0000 From: Laura Schwartz-Henderson (lhenderson(a)INTERNEWS.ORG) <lhenderson(a)INTERNEWS.ORG> Reply-To: Laura Schwartz-Henderson (lhenderson(a)INTERNEWS.ORG) <lhenderson(a)INTERNEWS.ORG> To: keepiton(a)lists.riseup.net <keepiton(a)lists.riseup.net> Hello Keepiton list! We’re excited to announce an open call for participants for our Internet Shutdown Measurements for Advocates program, a 6-week hands-on training program on Open Source network measurement tools. Please forward the call to your networks and encourage people from within your own organizations to apply! * * *Call for Applications: Internet Shutdown Measurements for Advocates*: A 6-Week Training on Open Source Network Measurement Tools and How to Use Them, for Advocates in Sub-Saharan Africa** October 12 - November 13 Internews is excited to announce an open call for participants for our *Internet Shutdown Measurements for Advocates* training. Through this 6-week hands-on training, participants from Sub-Saharan Africa, will learn how to collect and analyze internet measurements using a variety of open source tools and apply these skills to strengthen advocacy efforts against internet shutdowns. *About the Training* This course is intended to provide an introduction on how to use open source internet measurement tools and datasets for human rights advocates in Sub-Saharan Africa who are working on initiatives to end or prevent internet shutdowns in their countries. Through the training, participants will practice using several open source measurement tools and datasets, learn how to collect and analyze their own data, reflect on examples of how advocates have used measurement data to document shutdowns, and get one-on-one time with trainers to build research plans and incorporate measurement and documentation into their advocacy. Applicants will be asked to propose a research question about internet shutdowns/disruptions that they believe can be answered using network measurement tools and methods. Throughout the course, as they are introduced to different open source measurement tools and techniques, they will work with the trainers to build their projects. Training sessions will include: * Introduction to Network Measurement * Documenting Blackouts * Detecting Blocking of Websites and Applications * Measuring Internet Performance using open data * Contextualizing Your Data: Using Local Insight and Qualitative Research * Using Measurements in Advocacy This training is made possible through partnerships between Internews and the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), Measurement Lab, the Internet Outage and Detection Analysis Project (CAIDA), Access Now and others. *Who Should Apply? * Internews is seeking applications from individuals or groups from Sub-Saharan Africa who are currently working on advocacy or research initiatives focused on internet shutdowns, throttling, or blocking, and who want to learn more about open source tools that they can use to measure internet disruptions. Groups of two individuals may apply together, proposing a collaborative research or advocacy project. Participants do not need to have a technical background nor a research background to apply, but some experience with network measurement, data analysis, or other research skills is a plus. Those working on projects examining how internet disruptions impact women or marginalized populations are especially encouraged to apply. If offered a position within the training, individuals are expected to be able to devote at least 5 hours a week throughout the program to reading/watching materials, participating in a weekly hour-long webinar, collaborating with mentors and other participants, and building out their research project. Participants must have reasonably reliable access to the internet (barring network disruptions) and will be eligible to receive a small stipend to help cover associated internet costs. *Application Instructions* Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until *Monday, September 21*. We encourage applicants to apply early, as space is limited. To apply, please fill out the application at https://forms.gle/HYgxUFqtrGZk654Y6. Applicants who wish to work with another person as part of a partnership on one research project should apply separately. If you are interested in this training, but you are not based in Sub-Saharan Africa, please note that the materials for this training will be made publicly available and the program may be replicated at a later date for other regions. If you would like to be put on the outreach list, fill out this brief form <https://forms.gle/8zf869iaGtHDpH6B8> (https://forms.gle/8zf869iaGtHDpH6B8) Please contact bwhitehead(a)internews.orgif you any other questions on the application or program. *Laura Schwartz-Henderson * Senior Program Officer Global Technology Programs, Internews _lhenderson(a)internews.org <mailto:lhenderson@internews.org>_ | *Cell +*1-267-258-8165 *Address* 1133 15^th St NW, Suite 350 Washington, DC 20005 USA https://globaltech.internews.org/ | @internews <http://www.twitter.com/internews> |

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OONI Community Meeting: Tuesday, 25th August 2020
by Maria Xynou 24 Aug '20

24 Aug '20

Hello, The OONI team warmly welcomes you to join us next Tuesday for our monthly community meeting. => Where? OONI Slack channel: https://slack.ooni.org/ (bridged with IRC: ircs://irc.oftc.net:6697/#ooni) => When? Tuesday, 25th August 2020 at 14:00 UTC (for 1 hour) Please add topics that you'd like to discuss during the meeting in this pad: https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep The monthly OONI community meetings aim to: * Collect community feedback on OONI tools & methodologies * Address questions in relation to the use of OONI tools and OONI data * Foster discussions on internet censorship issues * Receive updates from the community We'd love to meet you and hear from you, and we hope you can join us! All the best, ~ OONI team -- Maria Xynou Research & Partnerships Director Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) https://ooni.org/ PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E

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Free TunnelBear VPN accounts
by Maria Xynou 31 Jul '20

31 Jul '20

Hello friends, The VPN company TunnelBear (https://www.tunnelbear.com/) has given out 20,000 free accounts to human rights defenders and they are happy to give more. See: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200714005302/en/TunnelBear-Kicks-A… If you are interested in a free TunnelBear account, you can request one by writing to partnerships(a)tunnelbear.com. Please share this with others who may be interested, particularly those who live in countries that experience pervasive levels of internet censorship. Thanks, Maria. -- Maria Xynou Research & Partnerships Director Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) https://ooni.org/ PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E

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RightsCon -- OONI session
by Maria Xynou 29 Jul '20

29 Jul '20

Hi friends, RightsCon Online is taking place next week! Along with CAIDA/IODA, we'll be facilitating the following session: * Title: Investigating internet shutdowns with open data * Date: Wednesday, 29th July 2020 * Time: 3:15pm UTC * Place: https://rightscon.course.tc/ (private ZOOM link that you will be able to find by logging into the RightsCon platform, if you've registered) Hope to see you there! Please feel encouraged to share any RightsCon sessions you may be facilitating. :) Cheers, Maria. -- Maria Xynou Research & Partnerships Director Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) https://ooni.org/ PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E

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Slides & Video Recordings: Internet Measurement Village 2020
by Maria Xynou 29 Jul '20

29 Jul '20

Hello friends, Over the last month (between 10th June 2020 to 3rd July 2020), we organized and hosted the first virtual Internet Measurement Village (IMV), which featured 18 presentations on internet measurement projects, censorship measurement efforts, advocacy efforts fighting internet shutdowns, and censorship circumvention tool projects. As all the IMV sessions were live-streamed and will continue to live on the OONI YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/OONIorg) we hope that these recordings will serve as a valuable resource on internet measurement for the internet freedom community. We published a blog post where we share the video recording & slides of each IMV presentation: https://ooni.org/post/2020-imv-slides-recordings/ Please help share these resources: https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1288430388445163520 Warm thanks to the IMV presenters for sharing their important work with the community! Special thanks to everyone who tuned in and shared questions, comments, and resources. All the best, Maria. -- Maria Xynou Research & Partnerships Director Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) https://ooni.org/ PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E

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OONI statement in support of OTF
by Maria Xynou 22 Jul '20

22 Jul '20

Hello, The OONI team just published a second statement in support of the OTF: https://ooni.org/post/2020-support-otf/ In our latest statement, we share our experience working with the OTF and discuss how they played a crucial role in supporting the fight against internet censorship worldwide. We also discuss the importance of expertise in supporting innovative projects, and the importance of trust in OTF leadership by the internet freedom community. Please help share our statement: https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1285999878691336192 Thanks, Maria. -- Maria Xynou Research & Partnerships Director Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) https://ooni.org/ PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E

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Updated OONI Data Policy
by Maria Xynou 22 Jul '20

22 Jul '20

Hello friends, We have updated the OONI Data Policy: https://ooni.org/about/data-policy/ The latest version (1.4.0) of the OONI Data Policy includes the following changes: * We now use our own ASN database (following the changes to MaxMind's license) * You can no longer opt out of submitting country code information (e.g. "IT" for Italy), as this significantly limits the value of measurements (i.e. we have no idea where a test was run) * We use a self-hosted analytics platform on our websites and OONI Probe apps in order to better understand how our apps are used, improve our understanding of user needs, improve OONI tools, and better serve the OONI community. You can opt out of our use of analytics by disabling the collection of app usage statistics in the OONI Probe app settings (and you can opt out of our use of analytics on ooni.org and explorer.ooni.org by unchecking the opt-out box at the end of our Data Policy). * In our Data Policy, we have added a section on the collection of app usage statistics * In our Data Policy, we have added a section where we disclose what information we will collect if you opt in to push notifications * OONI measurements are openly published by default, but we will not publish data related to app analytics and push notification support (which is securely stored separately from the public measurement metadb) Happy to address any questions you may have. Thanks, ~ OONI team. -- Maria Xynou Research & Partnerships Director Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) https://ooni.org/ PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E

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[Report] Network performance during the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Italy
by Maria Xynou 17 Jul '20

17 Jul '20

Hello friends, Today OONI and M-Lab co-published a report examining network performance in Northern Italy during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can read the report on the following sites: * OONI: https://ooni.org/post/2020-network-performance-covid19-italy/ * M-Lab: https://www.measurementlab.net/blog/measurement-observations-on-network-per… We analyzed NDT measurements collected from the provinces in the Milan metropolitan area between 1st January 2020 to 15th June 2020 with the goal of examining whether network performance was affected amid the surge in internet use during the nationwide lockdown. In summary, we observe: * Significant increase in the number of NDT tests run per day around the beginning of Italy’s nationwide lockdown (which started on 10th March 2020); * Reduced NDT download and upload speed results during the nationwide lockdown in Italy (between March 2020 to May 2020); * Improved NDT download and upload speed results from early May 2020 onwards, when the Italian government gradually started to lift the strict lockdown measures. As the available measurements suggest that there may be a correlation between increased internet use and reduced network performance, they highlight the need to invest in internet infrastructure that is more robust and sustainable in the long-term. They also highlight the need for more longitudinal measurements collected from more stable vantage points to improve our understanding of network performance issues. You can run NDT and contribute measurements on network performance through the OONI Probe apps (https://ooni.org/install/) or by deploying the Murakami tool (https://github.com/m-lab/murakami) in a Docker container. Please help share our report: https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1284162147249987584 Thanks, ~ OONI team. -- Maria Xynou Research & Partnerships Director Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) https://ooni.org/ PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E

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