Hello,
We published a new research report on the blocking of independent media
in Cuba amid the constitutional referendum last Sunday:
https://ooni.torproject.org/post/cuba-referendum/
Some key findings include:
* Independent media Tremenda Nota (which covers women's rights, LGBTQI
and other human rights issues in Cuba) was blocked on the eve of the
referendum
* We observe that many other independent media websites (which have been
pushing for a "no" vote) were blocked leading up to and during the
referendum as well
* Cuba's only ISP (ETECSA) has changed its censorship techniques: they
have switched from serving blank block pages to now implementing
IP-based blocking, thus censoring access to websites that support HTTPS
as well
* ETECSA continues though to serve blank block pages for sites that have
not added HTTPS support
* Some media sites may have previously been blocked by Deep Packet
Inspection (DPI) technology, but they are now IP-blocked
* Some media sites were temporarily unblocked in January 2019 (and the
means of blocking changed thereafter), suggesting that ETECSA may have
made changes to its censorship equipment around that time
In the report, we share a graph (based on openly available OONI data)
which shows how the blocking of media changed in Cuba over the last ~2
years.
It seems that the OONI website (ooni.io) is now blocked in Cuba as well,
but ooni.torproject.org remains accessible.
We thank OONI Probe users in Cuba who made this study possible!
All the best,
OONI team.
--
Maria Xynou
Research & Partnerships Director
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E
Hey folks,
A fellow community member has set up a new project which aims to improve
upon the Citizen Lab test lists => i.e. the lists of websites tested for
censorship by OONI Probe and other censorship measurement tools.
They are now seeking to hire researchers who can work part-time to
review and improve upon certain test lists:
https://telegra.ph/Internet-Censorship-Researchers-02-15
Specifically, they're looking for researchers to work on the test lists
for several MENA countries, China, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey. Details
are provided in the link above.
The deadline to apply to do research for the MENA countries is Monday,
25th February 2019, while the deadline for the other countries is 17th
March 2019.
Cheers,
Maria.
--
Maria Xynou
Research & Partnerships Director
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E
Hello folks,
OONI's hiring!
Detailed information here:
https://www.torproject.org/about/jobs-backenddeveloper.html.en
We're looking for a Backend Engineer to join the OONI team to work on:
* our data processing pipeline (& other backend components)
* the improvement of our data analysis heuristics
* the improvement of our network measurement methodologies
This is a full-time 12-month contract position, starting ASAP (no later
than mid-May 2019). The contract may be extended, depending on
performance and available funds.
Extensive experience in python or golang is required. Previous
experience working with data processing pipelines & familiarity with the
network measurement field is preferred.
As OONI doesn't have an office, this is a remote position. Most OONI
team members are based out of Europe.
Do you know someone right for this position?
We'd appreciate it if you could please share this job opening with your
networks!
Warm thanks,
~ OONI team.
--
Maria Xynou
Research & Partnerships Director
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E
Hello,
In collaboration with Venezuela Inteligente, IPYS Venezuela & DFRLab, we
just published a new research report, titled: "From the blocking of
Wikipedia to Social Media: Venezuela's Political Crisis".
Our joint report is available via the following links:
* OONI site:
https://ooni.torproject.org/post/venezuela-blocking-wikipedia-and-social-me…
* VI site: https://vesinfiltro.com/noticias/report-jan-2019/
* IPYS site:
https://ipysvenezuela.org/2019/01/29/from-the-blocking-of-wikipedia-to-soci…
We share OONI data on recent, politically-motivated cases of internet
censorship in Venezuela, starting off with the blocking of Wikipedia, to
then sharing data on the recent blocking of Instagram, Twitter and
YouTube. We also examine network anomalies that occurred during last
week's protests, which show that some Google IPs might have temporarily
been blocked. OONI data findings were further corroborated through
manual curl testing, in collaboration with Venezuela Inteligente.
Our findings show that Venezuelan ISPs have started to rely on more
advanced censorship techniques, beyond DNS-based censorship, as
state-owned CANTV is implementing SNI-based filtering as well. This
follows years of increased censorship events, as documented in our
previous research report:
https://ooni.io/post/venezuela-internet-censorship/
We observe a strong correlation between recent political events and
internet censorship in Venezuela (explained comprehensively in our
latest report). The situation remains tense and as political events
unfold, the public can monitor censorship events through the use of OONI
Probe (https://ooni.io/install/) and OONI data (https://ooni.io/data/).
We thank all OONI Probe users in Venezuela who made this study possible.
Please share our research with your networks:
https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1090346458707050496
Thanks,
~ OONI team.
--
Maria Xynou
Research & Partnerships Director
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E
Hello,
In collaboration with the Digital Society of Zimbabwe, we co-published a
research report examining the blocking of social media & the 2 internet
blackouts in Zimbabwe over the last week.
Our joint report is available via the following links:
https://ooni.io/post/zimbabwe-protests-social-media-blocking-2019/http://www.dszim.org/2019/01/23/zimbabwe-protests-social-media-blocking-and…
We share OONI data that shows the blocking of WhatsApp, Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
We are - probably for the first time - able to, indirectly, observe the
presence of 2 internet blackouts as well via the lack of OONI
measurements across networks during specific time-frames. This is
further corroborated by IODA data (also shared in this report), as well
as by relevant reporting by locals, community members, and the media.
OONI data also shows that the blocking of social media was lifted on
21st January 2019, when the High Court ruled that internet shutdowns are
illegal and ordered the government to restore connectivity.
If you're interested in expanding upon this study, you can do so by:
* Running OONI Probe: https://ooni.io/install/
* Analyzing OONI data (collected from Zimbabwe or elsewhere):
https://ooni.io/data/
We thank all OONI Probe users in Zimbabwe who made this study possible!
Best,
Maria.
--
Maria Xynou
Research & Partnerships Director
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E
Hello,
We published a post to share some OONI highlights from 2018 (also
including some of the exciting new projects we're launching this year!):
https://ooni.torproject.org/post/ooni-in-2018/
Many thanks to all community members for strengthening the fight against
internet censorship!
All the best,
Maria.
--
Maria Xynou
Research & Partnerships Director
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E
Hello,
The OONI team is thrilled to announce the launch of OONI Probe mobile 2.0!
To install the app:
* Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.openobservatory.ooniprobe
* iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id1199566366
If you already have the OONI Probe mobile app installed, just update to
the latest version.
Some highlights from the new app include:
* Major UI overhaul => New design and UX!
* Enhanced Website Testing => (a) You can test the websites of your
choice directly inside the app, (b) You can choose which categories of
sites (e.g. media, human rights, etc.) to test, (c) You can test
country-specific websites (in addition to internationally-relevant ones)
* Overview of Test Results => You can view, at a glance, what's
happening on your network & easily compare results
* Data usage tracking
Learn all about the revamped OONI Probe mobile app through our
announcement blog post:
https://ooni.torproject.org/post/revamped-ooni-probe-mobile-app/
Today's launch wouldn't have been possible without all the extremely
valuable community feedback provided over the years (since the initial
launch in February 2017), as well as during recent usability studies.
We'd therefore like to thank you.
A big thanks also goes to all the OONI Probe 2.0 beta testers who
provided very useful feedback as we were working towards the release!
We'd also like to thank the Localization Lab and all the translators who
generously translated the OONI Probe mobile app to the following 15
languages: Chinese, Taiwanese, Arabic, Farsi, Hindi, Russian, Turkish,
Spanish, Catalan, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Greek, Albanian.
Finally, we'd like to thank the OTF for supporting the development of
OONI Probe since the very beginning.
We hope you find the revamped app useful to your research and advocacy
efforts!
Please help spread the word:
https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1084736295568519168
Warm thanks,
~ The OONI team.
--
Maria Xynou
Research & Partnerships Director
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E
Hello friends,
The OONI team is creating a (long-postponed) Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQ) section to publish on our site.
The aim of the FAQ will be to address any questions you (and/or the
communities you work with!) have in relation to OONI Probe, OONI data,
test lists, etc. (basically, all components under the OONI-verse).
So far, we have compiled the questions that are listed in this pad:
https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-faq
Please help us better serve you and the broader community by letting us
know:
* Which questions we're missing (that you think should be included in
the FAQ!)
* Whether certain questions should be re-phrased
* Whether certain questions should be listed in a different order
* Whether we have included any redundant questions (that could be omitted)
We're aiming to publish the FAQ section in December 2018, but it will be
a working document - meaning that if you have feedback at a later stage,
we can always update the published FAQ.
Thanks so much for your time and support!
All the best,
Maria.
--
Maria Xynou
Research & Partnerships Director
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E
Hello,
The OONI team warmly welcomes you to join us tomorrow for our monthly
community meeting.
Where: https://slack.openobservatory.org/ (OONI Slack channel)
When: Tuesday, 27th November 2018 at 14:00 UTC (for 1 hour, until 15:00 UTC)
Do you have questions related to OONI Probe/OONI data/OONI methodologies?
Do you have censorship research you would like to share with the community?
Do you have ideas/thoughts/feedback you'd like to share?
Are you just curious to learn more about censorship research and meet the community?
Please join us! We'd love to meet you and hear from you.
Please add topics that you'd like to discuss during the meeting in this pad: https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting
If you're not able to join us, please feel encouraged to join us on
Slack or IRC (#ooni) on any other day!
Looking forward to connecting with you soon!
All the best,
~ The OONI team.
--
Maria Xynou
Research & Partnerships Director
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E