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OONI Monthly Report: December 2024
by Maria Xynou 16 Jan '25

16 Jan '25

Hello, This email shares OONI's monthly report for December 2024. *# OONI Monthly Report: December 2024* Throughout December 2024, the OONI team’s work can be tracked through the various OONI GitHub repositories: https://github.com/ooni Highlights are shared in this report below. *## Published new research report on independent media censorship in Russia* On 9th December 2024, in collaboration with RKS Global (https://rks.global/) we co-published a new research report on the systematic suppression of independent media in Russia. Our report is available in both: * English: https://ooni.org/post/2024-russia-report/ * Russian: https://ooni.org/ru/post/2024-russia-report/ RKS Global published a summary of the findings (along with recommendations) in both: * English: https://rks.global/en/research/chronicles/ * Russian: https://rks.global/research/chronicles/ Our findings are based on OONI data analysis and interviews with 15 independent Russian news media organizations. Our analysis of OONI data from Russia shows pervasive levels of news media censorship. We automatically confirmed the blocking of 279 news media domains -- including foreign and numerous independent Russian news media websites. Most blocks are implemented by means of TLS interference. As we observe the same pattern of TLS level interference in the vast majority of measurements collected from numerous networks during the same date range, OONI data suggests that these news media blocks are likely centrally managed by Roskomnadzor through the use of TSPU. Through interviews, independent Russian media organizations shared the following main challenges: * Financial and security challenges * Reduced ability to cover events in Russia * Partial loss of Russian audiences * Growing self-censorship * Closure of media organizations Despite the challenges, independent Russian media organizations remain resilient. The increased threats strengthened solidarity and cooperation among media outlets, and they have demonstrated a high level of adaptation to circumvent blocks and reach their audiences. Yet, international support is needed to strengthen the fight for press freedom in Russia. Our report received the following coverage: https://therecord.media/russia-doubles-blocking-access-independent-media-si… https://roskomsvoboda.org/ru/post/russia-censorship-pressure-independent-me… Our report was also shared widely on Telegram channels by Russian communities: https://t.me/roskomsvoboda/13149 https://t.me/ru_tech_talk/624 https://t.me/cybersarik/1428 https://t.me/airfield1972/3746 https://t.me/chertamedia/6974 https://t.me/zatelecom/29370 *## Presenting thematic censorship findings on OONI Explorer* Notably, we have completed the core development work for the new OONI Explorer thematic censorship findings pages and we have started internal testing and polishing of the pages in preparation for the upcoming launch. Based on internal testing of the new pages, we discussed and reviewed the initial feedback, and created additional mockups to improve the UX for several sections (“Reports” and “Findings”) of these new pages. We also worked towards implementing several other improvements based on feedback that emerged from internal testing in preparation for the launch. *## Automating censorship detection and characterization based on OONI measurements* In December 2024, we made steady progress on getting the new pipeline deployed into production. As part of this, we decided to switch from temporal to airflow for orchestration. Eventually, airflow will also be useful for replacing the scheduling of all other periodic tasks (which currently are done through systemd timers). We added support for deploying airflow here: https://github.com/ooni/devops/pull/132 *## Activities supported by OTF FOSS ### OONI Explorer* We fixed a bug that was impacting the search feature on the OONI Explorer country pages, preventing users from searching in languages other than English: https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/975 *### OONI Probe Engine* In the days leading up to the 2nd Open Measurement Gathering in Atlanta, we held an OONI developer meeting to brainstorm and discuss efforts around simplifying the OONI Probe measurement engine. The goals of this work are: * Simplify or eliminate the forks of go/crypto and go/http * Make it possible to not have to release engine versions so often by externalize the geoIP dependencies outside of the engine * Expose an API that’s more “useful” to mobile developers * Merge OONI Run v2 with richer testing input related work * Solve the integration of rust libraries (such as arti) * Reduce the overall OONI Probe engine codebase * Reduce the number of ways we write OONI Probe experiments As part of this, we outlined the work necessary to separate pieces of the engine that are related to speaking to our backend services from those that are related to running experiments. *### OONI Probe Mobile* We shipped OONI Probe Android 4.0.2 which fixed a bug that involved performance tests being included in autoruns ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2831) As part of our ongoing work on our multi-platform project that aims to refactor the OONI Probe mobile applications, we fixed a bug where the app would get “stuck” after a manual upload ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/334) and we made some small UX tweaks to ensure consistency between the current and future versions of the OONI probe applications ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/323, https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/321) Here is a list of all issues closed in December 2024: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aclosed… *### OONI Backend Maintenance & DevOps* We handled an issue related to incorrect handling of X-Forwarded-For headers in the api.ooni.org endpoint ( https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/901) This was causing issues to users that were using particular browser extensions when attempting to access certain pages on OONI Explorer. *## Hiring process for a backend developer* We completed the hiring process for a backend developer ( https://ooni.org/post/2024-job-opening-ooni-backend-developer/) and we made offers to 2 backend developers. *## Launched News Media Scan app with Deutsche Welle on iOS* In collaboration with Deutsche Welle (DW), we developed an OONI Probe-based app (“News Media Scan”) designed to measure the blocking of news media websites. Similarly to OONI Probe, News Media Scan app test results are published by OONI as open data in real-time. We previously launched the Android version of the News Media Scan app in October 2023 (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dw.ooniprobe) In December 2024, we launched the News Media Scan app on iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/news-media-scan/id6738992797 This is our first multi-platform application in production. *## Test list updates* We updated the Global test list to include targets related to measuring the DNSSEC root key rollover (https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1883) and we reviewed and merged several pull requests contributed by community members ( https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pulls?q=is%3Apr+is%3Aclosed+) *## Research and data analysis for upcoming research reports* We worked on the data analysis required for an upcoming research report on internet censorship in Bangladesh: https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/848 We also coordinated with our partner, Miaan Group, who contributed more websites to the Iranian and Global test lists: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1884 *## Community use of OONI data### Internet shutdown tracking system developed by ISOC Pulse Research Fellow* An ISOC Pulse Research Fellow has developed a new Internet shutdown tracking system that retrieves data from several sources, including OONI, IODA, Cloudflare Radar, and the Google Transparency Report. Learn more here: https://pulse.internetsociety.org/blog/developing-a-holistic-approach-to-me… *## Community-led presentations### Presentation on web censorship in France* On 4th December 2024, community members Etienne Maynier and taziden presented their research on internet censorship in France, through which they presented results from their analysis of OONI data. Information about this presentation is available here: https://censxres.fr/blog/pr%C3%A9sentation-sur-la-censure-le-4-d%C3%A9cembr… *## Community activities### SplinterCon Berlin 2024* Between 9th to 11th December 2024, OONI’s Elizaveta traveled to Berlin, Germany, to attend SplinterCon (https://splintercon.net/berlin/) As part of her participation, Elizaveta presented OONI’s latest report on media censorship in Russia (https://ooni.org/post/2024-russia-report/) and participated in multiple discussions about censorship in the region. *### 2nd Open Measurement Gathering* Between 10th-12th December 2024, OONI’s Arturo, Mehul, Jessie, and Maria attended the 2nd Open Measurement Gathering (OMG) at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, USA (https://x.com/OpenObservatory/status/1869829395701215334) This event brought together internet measurement projects (OONI, IODA, Censored Planet, M-Lab) to exchange skills and knowledge. We also had the opportunity to have guest participants from Sinar Project ( https://sinarproject.org/) Access Now (https://www.accessnow.org/) and internet measurement expert, Jim Cowie. As part of our participation, we: * Presented OONI highlights from 2024 and OONI plans for 2025 * Shared OONI data workflows based on case studies from Cuba * Presented OONI’s methodology for measuring throttling * Presented OONI’s latest data processing pipeline (OONI Pipeline v5) to collect feedback from internet measurement experts * Facilitated a session comparing the pipelines of different internet measurement projects * Facilitated a session on anomaly detection and shared OONI’s work on building a Social Media Censorship Alert System * Facilitated a session on GeoIP/AS database consolidation and discussion of next steps * Shared OONI’s partnership experience and lessons learned during a session on “partner structures” In the days leading up to the Open Measurement Gathering, we had a team “hackathon” on work related to the OONI backend and measurement engine, which helped with improving our related roadmaps and plans. On 13th December 2024, following the Open Measurement Gathering, we worked out of Georgia Tech to brainstorm on and discuss some of our upcoming projects. *## Measurement coverage* In December 2024, 47,018,051 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 2,742 networks in 169 countries around the world. This information can also be found through our measurement stats on OONI Explorer (see chart on “monthly coverage worldwide”): https://explorer.ooni.org/ —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *As a non-profit, we rely on donations and grants to defend a free and open internet for all.You can support OONI’s work through a donation (https://ooni.org/donate <https://ooni.org/donate>) or by getting OONI swag (https://shop.ooni.org/ <https://shop.ooni.org/>). We thank our supporters Jigsaw, Pantheon, Luminate, Amazon, DigitalOcean, Greenhost, Netlify, Surfshark, and VPNCompare for supporting OONI’s work and mission.If you are a company interested in supporting OONI, please refer to our Supporters page for more information: https://ooni.org/about/supporters <https://ooni.org/about/supporters>We also thank our funders for supporting our work over the years: https://ooni.org/about/supporters#funders <https://ooni.org/about/supporters#funders> *

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OONI Monthly Report: November 2024
by Maria Xynou 16 Jan '25

16 Jan '25

Hello, This email shares OONI's monthly report for November 2024. *# OONI Monthly Report: November 2024* Throughout November 2024, the OONI team’s work can be tracked through the various OONI GitHub repositories: https://github.com/ooni Highlights are shared in this report below. *## Report on the temporary blocking of social media in Mauritius* In November 2024, we published a new report on the blocking of social media in Mauritius ahead of the country’s 2024 general election. This report was published on the OONI Explorer Censorship Findings platform: https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/73729350400 As part of this short report, we documented the blocking of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter/X, and Linkedin in Mauritius on 1st November 2024 based on OONI data. As the blocks were lifted the next day (2nd November 2024), we updated the report to include OONI data on the unblocking of social media platforms in Mauritius. *## Expanding measurement methodologies* As part of our ongoing efforts to expand and improve upon our measurement methodologies, we: * Made improvements to our DNS measurement capabilities by simplifying the DNSCheck list to focus on key provider endpoints ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1656) * Enhanced our ECH testing capabilities by switching to cloudflare-ech.com as the target and adding support for additional handshake configurations ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1658) *## Automating censorship detection and characterization based on OONI measurements* In November 2024, we made significant progress on the OONI Pipeline v5, preparing a new release candidate (https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/99) and working on its production deployment ( https://github.com/ooni/devops/pull/112) As part of this work, we added support for parsing ECH-related fields from TLS handshakes and OONI Run link IDs (https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/100) We also improved our infrastructure and documentation by consolidating our data-related hosts to streamline our research infrastructure ( https://github.com/ooni/devops/issues/109) *## Activities supported by OTF FOSS ### OONI Probe Engine* In November 2024, we shipped OONI Probe 3.24.0: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2813 The release includes: * Changes to enable the ECH Check experiment and reduce DNS Check experiment inputs * Changes to enable system resolver for the DNS Check experiment * Some improvements in the OpenVPN experiment * Bug fixes for oonimkall and the Psiphon tunnel *### OONI Probe Mobile* We continued to make significant progress on our multi-platform project that aims to refactor the OONI Probe mobile applications. While our focus was on testing and QA specifically for the News Media Scap application, the majority of bugs found and fixed also benefit the OONI Probe applications because they share 80-90% of the code. Some highlights include: * We fixed a crash and addressed some performance issues: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/261 * We improved the loading state of the measurement detail views: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/276 * We improved the robustness of retrying failed uploads: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/265 Here is a list of all issues closed in November 2024: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aclosed… *### OONI Run* Following the launch of OONI Run v2 in October 2024 ( https://ooni.org/post/2024-launch-ooni-run-v2/) we prioritized monitoring the performance of the recently released application throughout November 2024 to ensure there were no notable measurement drops or other issues. We also responded to questions and feedback from the community. *### OONI Explorer and general frontend* As part of our efforts to advance the OONI Probe multi-platform project, we created and improved dedicated mobile views of OONI Explorer measurement detail pages that can be consumed by the new mobile applications. Using mobile views for the measurement details view helped us to improve our development speed for this particular feature. This work is documented through the following tickets: https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/962 https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/960 https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/961 As part of our efforts to consolidate frontend deployment patterns, we ensured that ooni.org was deployable on Vercel: https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/1630 *### OONI Backend Maintenance & DevOps* In addition to the typical long-running background tasks to maintain our backend infrastructure, we: * Helped the mobile team investigate an issue that was happening with the new multi- platform applications: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/257 * Investigated and addressed an issue with our fallback DNS settings that was impacting the measurement API endpoints and resulted in errors on OONI Explorer: https://github.com/ooni/sysadmin/pull/521 * Monitored and responded to an incident where a bad actor was spoofing our IP address, likely in an attempt to have one of our servers taken down. This was perpetrated by the same people who were attempting something similar with Tor: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/tpa/team/-/issues/41840 * Added API documentation for OONI Run and the OONI Findings API: https://github.com/ooni/docs/pull/7 * Added a nginx-based reverse proxy to improve our backend service architecture: https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/894 *## Hiring process for a backend developer* As part of our ongoing search to hire another backend developer for OONI ( https://ooni.org/post/2024-job-opening-ooni-backend-developer/) we continued to review incoming applications, follow up with candidates, and interview shortlisted candidates. *## OONI partner workshop series* In support of our global network of partners (https://ooni.org/partners) we facilitated an online workshop series with the goal of sharing skills and knowledge for censorship measurement research. In November 2024, we facilitated 2 workshops for our partners. Specifically, OONI’s Elizaveta facilitated the following workshops for our partners: * OONI Run v2: Features of the new release (7th November 2024) * Using the Test Lists Editor (20th November 2024) *## Published PDFs for Kazakhstan research report* Thanks to the design provided by Ura Design, we published PDFs for the English and Russian versions of our recent research report on internet censorship in Kazakhstan. The PDFs of the research report are available in: * English: https://ooni.org/documents/OONI-Report-Kazakhstan-2024-English.pdf * Russian: https://ooni.org/documents/OONI-Report-Kazakhstan-2024-Russian.pdf *## Miaan Group podcast* In early November 2024, OONI’s Maria provided an interview to our partner, Miaan Group (https://ooni.org/partners/miaan/) for their podcast. As part of this podcast, Maria shared information about OONI tools with Iranian communities. *## Collaboration with agency to boost OONI’s social media presence* We continued to collaborate with Latte (https://www.lattecreative.com/en/) an agency in Rome which supports organizations (including many nonprofit organizations, such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace) on improving their communication, branding, advocacy, and fundraising efforts. We collaborated with Latte on using Google ads to promote OONI’s work, as well as on creating a digital strategy to improve OONI’s communication and social media presence. *## Rapid response### Blocking of Telegram in Kenya during KCSE 2024 exams* On 7th November 2024, Kenya blocked access to Telegram amid the KCSE 2024 exams. We responded by sharing relevant OONI data through social media channels: https://x.com/OpenObservatory/status/1855021971672907842 We also shared OONI data on the blocking of Telegram in Kenya with the #KeepItOn advocacy community. It’s worth noting that Kenya also blocked access to Telegram last year, during the KCSE 2023 exams, which we documented in the following report: https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/228466228201 *## Community use of OONI data### Launch of a project on website censorship in France* On 15th November 2024, community members Etienne Maynier and taziden launched a new project which documents website censorship in France through legal and technical analysis. The technical analysis of their research project makes use of OONI data to document website blocks in France, and they share an OONI Run v2 link to encourage further testing. Learn more here: https://censxres.fr/ *### ISOC Pulse report on social media blocks in Mauritius* Internet Society (ISOC) published a report documenting the social media blocks in Mauritius ahead of the country’s 2024 elections. As part of this report, they cite OONI data, include an OONI Explorer chart illustrating the blocks, and encourage readers in Mauritius to contribute more measurements through the use of OONI Probe. Their report is available here: https://pulse.internetsociety.org/shutdowns/mauritius-orders-blocking-of-so… *### ISOC Pulse report on internet outages and blocks in Mozambique* Internet Society (ISOC) published a report documenting mobile internet outages and social media blocks in Mozambique amid protests. As part of this report, they cite OONI data, include OONI Explorer charts, and provide a custom OONI Run v2 link to encourage further testing. Their report is available here: https://pulse.internetsociety.org/shutdowns/mobile-internet-suspended-in-mo… *### Human Rights Watch article on internet restrictions in Mozambique* Human Rights Watch published an article on the post-election internet restrictions in Mozambique, citing OONI data. Their article is available here: https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/11/06/mozambique-post-election-internet-restr… *## Community activities### IETF 121 Dublin* Between 2nd to 5th November 2024, OONI’s Arturo attended the IETF 121 in Dublin (https://www.ietf.org/live/ietf121-plenary/) As part of his participation, Arturo attended an event organized by the Public Interest Working Group. He engaged in conversations around standards and how work can be done to orient them more in the public interest. During the IETF he connected with people working on Encrypted Client Hello and discussed some of the upcoming work on anonymous credentials which are being standardized as part of BBS. Finally, it was an opportunity to meet and engage industry players who are working on topics that have an impact on digital rights. *### OONI training session at Internet Shutdown training for journalists, activists and election observers in Tanzania* On 5th November 2024, as part of the Internet Shutdown training – organized by our partners, Zaina Foundation ( https://ooni.org/partners/zaina-foundation/) and Access Now ( https://ooni.org/partners/access-now/) – for journalists, activists and election observers in Tanzania, OONI’s Elizaveta facilitated a training session on how to use OONI Probe and OONI Explorer to investigate internet censorship in Tanzania. *### OONI presentation for Masters students at the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI)* On 6th November 2024, OONI’s Arturo presented OONI tools and methods to computer science Masters students at the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) in Berlin, Germany (https://hpi.de/en/) During this lesson, he provided an overview of methods for measuring the internet to map information controls. *### Falling Walls Science Summit 2024* On 7th November 2024, OONI’s Arturo participated as a panelist at the Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin (https://falling-walls.com/) His panel discussed the topic of Digital Walls and how to overcome them. The fellow panelists were Peter Limbourg (General Director of DW), Patryk Pawlak (European University Institute), and Sabine Frank (Google). Following the panel, Arturo was interviewed by DW, who published the interview here: https://www.dw.com/en/how-to-circumvent-online-censorship/video-70781938 *### OONI presentation at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University* On 19th November 2024, OONI’s Maria presented OONI tools and methods to the Berkman Klein Center community at Harvard University ( https://cyber.harvard.edu/) as part of a session on “How to investigate internet censorship with OONI tools and data”. *### State of the Onion 2024* On 20th November 2024, OONI’s Arturo presented OONI highlights from 2024 and upcoming plans for 2025 as part of the Tor Project’s annual State on the Onion Community event ( https://blog.torproject.org/event/2024-state-of-the-onion/) Watch the presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/live/EODNtLqD7f8 *### OONI Community Meeting* On 26th November 2024, we hosted the monthly OONI Community Meeting on our Slack channel (https://slack.ooni.org/) As part of this meeting, we discussed new features of the OONI Run v2 release. We also discussed how existing OONI data can be used to explore different kinds of censorship, such as geo-blocking and server-side blocking. *## Measurement coverage* In November 2024, 48,385,672 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 2,839 networks in 170 countries around the world. This information can also be found through our measurement stats on OONI Explorer (see chart on “monthly coverage worldwide”): https://explorer.ooni.org/ —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *As a non-profit, we rely on donations and grants to defend a free and open internet for all.You can support OONI’s work through a donation (https://ooni.org/donate <https://ooni.org/donate>) or by getting OONI swag (https://shop.ooni.org/ <https://shop.ooni.org/>). We thank our supporters Jigsaw, Pantheon, Luminate, Amazon, DigitalOcean, Greenhost, Netlify, Surfshark, and VPNCompare for supporting OONI’s work and mission.If you are a company interested in supporting OONI, please refer to our Supporters page for more information: https://ooni.org/about/supporters <https://ooni.org/about/supporters>We also thank our funders for supporting our work over the years: https://ooni.org/about/supporters#funders <https://ooni.org/about/supporters#funders> *

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OONI Monthly Report: October 2024
by Maria Xynou 16 Jan '25

16 Jan '25

Hello, This email shares OONI's monthly report for October 2024. *# OONI Monthly Report: October 2024* Throughout October 2024, the OONI team’s work can be tracked through the various OONI GitHub repositories: https://github.com/ooni Highlights are shared in this report below. *## Launched OONI Run v2* In October 2024, we launched OONI Run v2: the next generation version of OONI Run (https://run.ooni.org/) Since 2017, OONI Run has supported community-driven efforts aimed at coordinating the testing of website blocks -- particularly during political events which triggered censorship events. With the launch of OONI Run v2, we address key community feedback (identified through an extensive usability study). We published a blog post which shares detailed information, as well as a step-by-step guide (with screenshots) for using OONI Run v2: https://ooni.org/post/2024-launch-ooni-run-v2/ OONI Run v2 (https://run.ooni.org/) is a major revamp, enabling you to dynamically coordinate censorship testing with OONI Probe users around the world. With OONI Run v2: * Create a (short!) link for the websites you want to measure for censorship * Share that link with OONI Probe users * Update your OONI Run link anytime if you want to add/change URLs (your community of testers will get updates automatically!) * Automated testing is supported (for you and your community) * Find your OONI Run v2 measurements on OONI Explorer ( https://explorer.ooni.org/) as open data in real-time (based on the OONI Run link ID) OONI Run v2 is currently only supported on Android. Please update to the latest OONI Probe Android version (4.0.0) to start using OONI Run v2: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.openobservatory.ooniprobe With the launch of OONI Run v2, we also introduced UI improvements to OONI Probe Android: https://ooni.org/post/2024-launch-ooni-run-v2/#ui-changes-to-ooni-probe-and… We thank the OONI community for their invaluable feedback, which informed the design of OONI Run v2! *## Updated OONI Data Policy* In October 2024, we updated the OONI Data Policy to account for changes introduced with the launch of OONI Run v2. The edits to the OONI Data Policy are available through this pull request: https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/pull/1601 The updated OONI Data Policy is available here: https://ooni.org/about/data-policy *## Published animation about the OONI Partner Gathering 2024* In May 2024, we had the opportunity to host the OONI Partner Gathering 2024: a two-day event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where we brought our partners from Asia and the Middle East together to exchange skills and knowledge on internet censorship research ( https://ooni.org/post/2024-ooni-partner-gathering-report/) In October 2024, we published a new animation about the OONI Partner Gathering, which is available here: https://ooni.org/post/2024-ooni-partner-gathering-animation/ This animation provides a glimpse into the event, highlighting the importance of community participation in censorship measurement research. We thank Robotina (https://www.robotina.it/) for collaborating with us on the creation of this animation. We also thank the Ford Foundation and Luminate for supporting the OONI Partner Gathering 2024, as well as our partners for making the event an important experience through their participation. *## Published OONI Community Interview with Chido Musodza from Localization Lab* In October 2024, we published a new OONI Community Interview with Chido Musodza, Program Associate, Community Engagement at Localization Lab ( https://www.localizationlab.org/) You can watch Chido’s interview and learn about her work here: https://ooni.org/post/2024-interview-with-chido-musodza/ Through the OONI Community Interview series, we aim to share the amazing work of our partners, highlighting the different ways through which they make use of OONI tools and data. You can find more OONI Community Interviews through our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrclQ2QZjVo&list=PL1sH9kYR-16nWkDJwY-NAaMbr… *## Presenting thematic censorship findings on OONI Explorer* In October 2024, we focused on developing the new thematic censorship findings pages for OONI Explorer. These pages will focus on OONI measurements pertaining to News Media ( https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/940) Social Media ( https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/939) and Circumvention Tools ( https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/941) and will offer users a way to explore OONI data focused on these specific themes. Notably, we completed the core development work necessary to unblock our internal testing and polishing of the pages prior to the upcoming launch. We made significant improvements to our findings API to enhance censorship event analysis. Specifically, we: * Added support for filtering by theme, domains, country codes and ASNs ( https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/890) * Implemented support for storing and filtering findings by theme ( https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/889) * Added the ability to filter by domain name in the findings endpoints ( https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/881) These API improvements make it significantly easier for researchers and analysts to identify and investigate potential censorship events across different regions and themes. *## Automating censorship detection and characterization based on OONI measurements* In October 2024, we made significant progress in improving our censorship detection capabilities and data processing pipeline infrastructure. Specifically, we expanded our blocking fingerprint database by: * Adding new Indonesian fingerprints that were reported through our community channels (https://github.com/ooni/blocking-fingerprints/pull/19) * Incorporating the piracyshield blockpage fingerprint ( https://github.com/ooni/blocking-fingerprints/pull/18) These additions enhance our ability to automatically identify and categorize different types of internet censorship across various regions. We continued working towards the deployment and optimization of the OONI Pipeline v5 by: * Setting up production deployment infrastructure through ansible, improving our ability to consistently deploy and manage the pipeline ( https://github.com/ooni/devops/pull/105) * Initiating the reprocessing of all 2024 data on data.ooni.org following our schema improvements (https://github.com/ooni/data/issues/90) * Moving critical infrastructure components from ooni/sysadmin to ooni/devops, making our deployment process more streamlined and maintainable. *## Activities supported by OTF FOSS ### OONI Probe Engine* In October 2024, we addressed an issue where measurements could not be run if the Psiphon proxy was used (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2810) We also started working towards shipping OONI Probe 3.24.0 ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2813) *### OONI Probe Mobile#### Released OONI Probe Android 4.0.0 with support for OONI Run v2* Notably, we released OONI Probe Android 4.0.0 with support for OONI Run v2: https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/releases/tag/v4.0.0 Specifically, the OONI Probe Android 4.0.0 includes the following important changes: * Next generation of OONI Run - OONI Run v2! * Updated UI of the cards displayed on the dashboard * Test settings for individual tests on each card * Changes to the "Run" button to allow users to enable/disable specific tests, including both OONI Probe tests and installed OONI Run links Further details about the UI improvements introduced to OONI Probe Android are available here: https://ooni.org/post/2024-launch-ooni-run-v2/#ui-changes-to-ooni-probe-and… *#### Multiplatform project* We continued to make progress on our multi-platform project that aims to refactor the OONI Probe mobile app. We continued iterating on the News Media Scan iOS app by ensuring the UI matches the Android app ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/122) We also began our internal QA for the News Media Scan app, as well as for the OONI Probe application. We worked on many details necessary to get us closer to launching the re-architected OONI Probe applications. These included: * Completing the onboarding flow: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/156 * Adding support for automated testing: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/pull/150 * Ensuring all proper icons are used: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/161 * Ensuring the app is usable in landscape orientation: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/196 * Fixing some issues that appeared when the font was enlarged: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/132 Here is a list of all issues closed in October 2024: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aclosed… *### OONI Run* Throughout October 2024, we continued with our preparations for the launch of OONI Run v2 on Android. We first released the OONI Run v2-enabled version of OONI Probe to our open testing or “beta” channel on the Google Play store (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2803) We then monitored the measurement volume for a period of several weeks, and compared it to a previous beta release. This helped increase our confidence that we would not ship any bugs that could impact overall measurement volume. After this additional testing and monitoring we proceeded with the launch of OONI Run v2. *### OONI Backend Maintenance & DevOps* In addition to the regular maintenance and monitoring of our infrastructure, specific tasks that we worked on this month include the following: * We made progress on refactoring our measurements service to adhere to our current standards/patterns for development: https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/877 * We took steps to set up a new primary test server and aimed to ensure it replicates production as close as possible: https://github.com/ooni/devops/issues/110 * We worked on reducing the sizes of our machines to be more cost effective: https://github.com/ooni/devops/pull/107 * We implemented log rotation for docker files after 100MB to prevent disk space issues: https://github.com/ooni/devops/pull/108 Overall, thanks to the various improvements to our infrastructure deployment, we were able to significantly reduce cloud costs by a factor of 2. We aim to continue these improvements as we move forward. *## Published updated backend developer job opening* As part of our ongoing search (which started in June 2024) to hire another backend developer for OONI, we updated our existing backend developer job opening and re-published it in October 2024 ( https://ooni.org/post/2024-job-opening-ooni-backend-developer/) This resulted in receiving many more strong applications from developers around the world. We therefore allocated time towards reviewing new applications, following up with candidates, and interviewing shortlisted candidates. *## OONI partner workshop series* In support of our global network of partners (https://ooni.org/partners) we initiated an online workshop series with the goal of sharing skills and knowledge for censorship measurement research. In October 2024, we facilitated 2 workshops for our partners. Specifically, OONI’s Elizaveta facilitated the following workshops for our partners: * Introduction to Internet Censorship (9th October 2024) * Network Measurement: What exactly are we measuring and how can one contribute? (17th October 2024) *## Updated our research report on internet censorship in Kazakhstan* Based on community feedback, we made some minor edits to the TLS MITM section of the research report that we previously published on internet censorship in Kazakhstan (https://ooni.org/post/2024-kazakhstan-report/) We applied these edits to both versions of our report in: * English: https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/pull/1615 * Russian: https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/pull/1616 *## Test list updates* In October 2024, we reviewed and merged several community contributions adding news media websites to the Hong Kong test list: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1826/ https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1828 In preparation for Georgia’s 2024 elections, we merged several contributions to the Georgian test list to encourage the testing of news media websites covering the elections: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1837 https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1838 https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1851 https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1849 https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1847 *## Rapid response### Blocking of Twitter/X in Azerbaijan* On 8th October 2024, Azerbaijan blocked access to Twitter/X. On the same day, we responded by sharing relevant OONI data through social media channels: https://x.com/OpenObservatory/status/1843812546765267382 We also shared OONI data on the blocking of Twitter/X in Azerbaijan with advocacy groups. *### Blocking of Discord in Russia and Turkiye* On 8th October 2024, both Russia and Turkiye started blocking access to Discord. On the same day, we responded by sharing relevant OONI data through social media channels: https://x.com/OpenObservatory/status/1843815747094753847 *## Community use of OONI data### iMAP 2024 reports on internet censorship in 9 Asian countries* On 22nd October 2024, our long-term partner, Sinar Project ( https://ooni.org/partners/sinar-project/) in collaboration with their Internet Monitoring Action Project (iMAP) partners, launched the iMAP 2024 State of Internet Censorship Report covering 9 countries: Cambodia, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. All of these research reports are based on the analysis of OONI data. All iMAP 2024 reports are available here: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2024 Specifically, the iMAP 2024 reports document internet censorship (based on OONI data) in the following countries: * Cambodia: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2024/imap-cambodia-2024-internet-cens… * Hong Kong (China): https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2024/imap-hong-kong-china-2024-intern… * India: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2024/imap-india-2024-internet-censors… * Indonesia: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2024/imap-indonesia-2024-internet-cen… * Malaysia: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2024/imap-malaysia-2024-internet-cens… * Myanmar: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2024/imap-myanmar-2024-internet-censo… * Philippines: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2024/imap-philippines-2024-internet-c… * Thailand: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2024/imap-thailand-2024-internet-cens… * Vietnam: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2024/imap-vietnam-2024-internet-censo… *### Freedom on the Net 2024 reports* Freedom House published their annual Freedom on the Net report ( https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2024/struggle-trust-online) which includes numerous country reports ( https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-net/scores) This year, OONI data was cited in 35 (out of 72) Freedom on the Net 2024 reports. Specifically, OONI data is cited in the following Freedom on the Net country reports: * Azerbaijan: https://freedomhouse.org/country/azerbaijan/freedom-net/2024 * Bangladesh: https://freedomhouse.org/country/bangladesh/freedom-net/2024 * Belarus: https://freedomhouse.org/country/belarus/freedom-net/2024 * Brazil: https://freedomhouse.org/country/brazil/freedom-net/2024 * Cambodia: https://freedomhouse.org/country/cambodia/freedom-net/2024 * Cuba: https://freedomhouse.org/country/cuba/freedom-net/2024 * Egypt: https://freedomhouse.org/country/egypt/freedom-net/2024 * Ethiopia: https://freedomhouse.org/country/ethiopia/freedom-net/2024 * India: https://freedomhouse.org/country/india/freedom-net/2024 * Iran: https://freedomhouse.org/country/iran/freedom-net/2024 * Italy: https://freedomhouse.org/country/italy/freedom-net/2024 * Jordan: https://freedomhouse.org/country/jordan/freedom-net/2024 * Kenya: https://freedomhouse.org/country/kenya/freedom-net/2024 * Lebanon: https://freedomhouse.org/country/lebanon/freedom-net/2024 * Libya: https://freedomhouse.org/country/libya/freedom-net/2024 * Malaysia: https://freedomhouse.org/country/malaysia/freedom-net/2024 * Mexico: https://freedomhouse.org/country/mexico/freedom-net/2024 * Myanmar: https://freedomhouse.org/country/myanmar/freedom-net/2024 * Nigeria: https://freedomhouse.org/country/nigeria/freedom-net/2024 * Pakistan: https://freedomhouse.org/country/pakistan/freedom-net/2024 * Russia: https://freedomhouse.org/country/russia/freedom-net/2024 * Rwanda: https://freedomhouse.org/country/rwanda/freedom-net/2024 * Saudi Arabia: https://freedomhouse.org/country/saudi-arabia/freedom-net/2024 * Sri Lanka: https://freedomhouse.org/country/sri-lanka/freedom-net/2024 * Sudan: https://freedomhouse.org/country/sudan/freedom-net/2024 * Thailand: https://freedomhouse.org/country/thailand/freedom-net/2024 * Tunis: https://freedomhouse.org/country/tunisia/freedom-net/2024 * Turkey: https://freedomhouse.org/country/turkey/freedom-net/2024 * Uganda: https://freedomhouse.org/country/uganda/freedom-net/2024 * UAE: https://freedomhouse.org/country/united-arab-emirates/freedom-net/2024 * UK: https://freedomhouse.org/country/united-kingdom/freedom-net/2024 * Uzbekistan: https://freedomhouse.org/country/uzbekistan/freedom-net/2024 * Venezuela: https://freedomhouse.org/country/venezuela/freedom-net/2024 * Zambia: https://freedomhouse.org/country/zambia/freedom-net/2024 * Zimbabwe: https://freedomhouse.org/country/zimbabwe/freedom-net/2024 *### Report on internet health in Cuba* In October 2024, community members published a report on internet health in Cuba, which makes use of OONI data: https://guardianesdigitales.blogspot.com/2024/10/informe-6-sobre-la-salud-d… As part of this report, they used OONI Probe to collect measurements and they used OONI Explorer to analyze OONI data and generate charts to document blocks in Cuba. They have also published several other reports over the past year, documenting internet censorship in Cuba based on OONI data: https://guardianesdigitales.blogspot.com/2024/07/informe-5-sobre-la-salud-d… https://guardianesdigitales.blogspot.com/2024/04/informe-4-sobre-la-salud-d… https://guardianesdigitales.blogspot.com/2023/12/estudio-trimestral-sobre-l… https://guardianesdigitales.blogspot.com/2023/12/censura-y-restricciones-de… *### Karisma Foundation report on blocks in Colombia* Our partner, Karisma Foundation ( https://ooni.org/partners/karisma-foundation/) published a report on emergent blocks in Colombia based on OONI data: https://obi.karisma.org.co/2024-10-28-colombia-bloqueo-bitcoin-e-independen… Specifically, their report documents the blocking of Bitcoin and The Independent news media website in Colombia based on OONI data. *## Community-led presentations### Phnom Penh Internet Forum 2024* On 18th October 2024, the Advocacy and Policy Institute (API) presented the iMAP Cambodia 2024 Internet Censorship Report (which is based on OONI data) at the Phnom Penh Internet Forum ( https://ppifcambodia.net/ppif-home/agenda-en/) Read the iMAP Cambodia 2024 Internet Censorship Report here: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2024/imap-cambodia-2024-internet-cens… The event and presentation of the censorship findings received the following press coverage: https://cambojanews.com/phnom-penh-internet-forum-calls-attention-to-digita… *## Community activities### Lightning talk at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University* On 8th October 2024, OONI’s Maria gave a lightning talk at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society (https://cyber.harvard.edu/) where she introduced other fellows to her fellowship research, which aims to explore how internet censorship changed globally over the past eight years. As part of this lightning talk, Maria also briefly introduced participants to OONI tools and data. *### Panel discussion on internet censorship policies in Indonesia * On 10th October 2024, OONI’s Mehul participated in a panel discussion (“Unraveling Government’s Content Moderation and Internet Access Restrictions Policies and Implementation Techniques”) – organized by our partner, SAFEnet (https://ooni.org/partners/safenet/) – on internet censorship policies in Indonesia. As part of his participation, Mehul introduced participants to OONI tools and methods and he shared some censorship findings from OONI measurements collected from Indonesia. *### OONI training session for SHOOA* On 10th October 2024, OONI’s Elizaveta hosted an OONI training session for SHOAA (https://shoaa.org/) a digital rights organization from Algeria. During this session, participants learned how to use OONI Probe, OONI Run, the OONI Test Lists Editor and OONI Explorer to document and investigate internet censorship. *### OONI training of trainers (ToT) for civil society activists in Senegal * On 11th October 2024, OONI’s Elizaveta facilitated a full-day, hybrid, training of trainers (ToT) for civil society activists from Senegal. This training of trainers event was organized by our Senegalese partners, Computech Institute (https://ooni.org/partners/computech/) and Jonction. As part of the training, Elizaveta covered all OONI tools (OONI Probe, OONI Run, Test Lists Editor, OONI Explorer) and prepared 10 civil society activists to run similar training sessions in their regions in Senegal. *### Presentation of research report at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2024 Kazakhstan* On 16th October 2024, OONI’s Elizaveta presented the findings from our new research report on internet censorship in Kazakhstan ( https://ooni.org/post/2024-kazakhstan-report/) at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2024 Kazakhstan (https://igf.kz/en/main/#agenda) The presentation of the report at the event received the following press coverage: https://bes.media/news/mitm-ataki-i-tsenzura-raskriti-metodi-pravitelstvenn… *### M-Lab Community Call on large scale internet measurements* On 17th October 2024, OONI’s Maria participated as a panelist in M-Lab’s community call discussion on challenges and lessons learned from large scale internet measurements. Watch the full Community Call discussion on M-Lab’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq-v5GfYInQ *### Panel at Decrypting Digital Authoritarianism conference* On 29th October 2024, OONI’s Arturo participated in the conference "Decrypting Digital Authoritarianism" at the European University Institute, which focused on examining how internet usage can impact democracy and human rights. Arturo was a speaker in the roundtable discussion "Strategies and counterstrategies of digital authoritarianism in practice," alongside representatives from Freedom House, Deutsche Welle, Meta, Project Liberty – Sciences Po, and the Freedom Online Coalition ( https://x.com/EUI_Schuman/status/1851192966615896490) The session, chaired by Patryk Pawlak, explored various approaches to identifying and countering digital authoritarian practices. Throughout the conference, Arturo engaged in discussions with other participants about documenting and responding to digital authoritarianism globally. *### OONI Run v2 demo for Localization Lab community* On 30th October 2024, OONI’s Elizaveta provided a live demo of using our new OONI Run v2 tool (https://run.ooni.org/) for the Localization Lab community (https://www.localizationlab.org/) The goal of this session was to introduce the Localization Lab’s translator community (who localize OONI tools) to OONI Run v2, address their questions, and collect their feedback. *### OONI Community Meeting* On 29th October 2024, we hosted the monthly OONI Community Meeting on our Slack channel (https://slack.ooni.org/) We dedicated this meeting to the discussion of the recently launched OONI Run v2 tool (https://ooni.org/post/2024-launch-ooni-run-v2/) Community members asked many questions, shared feedback and feature requests, as documented in our community meeting pad: https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep *## Measurement coverage* In October 2024, 56,985,335 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 2,964 networks in 176 countries around the world. This information can also be found through our measurement stats on OONI Explorer (see chart on “monthly coverage worldwide”): https://explorer.ooni.org/ —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *As a non-profit, we rely on donations and grants to defend a free and open internet for all.You can support OONI’s work through a donation (https://ooni.org/donate <https://ooni.org/donate>) or by getting OONI swag (https://shop.ooni.org/ <https://shop.ooni.org/>). We thank our supporters Jigsaw, Pantheon, Luminate, Amazon, DigitalOcean, Greenhost, Netlify, Surfshark, and VPNCompare for supporting OONI’s work and mission.If you are a company interested in supporting OONI, please refer to our Supporters page for more information: https://ooni.org/about/supporters <https://ooni.org/about/supporters>We also thank our funders for supporting our work over the years: https://ooni.org/about/supporters#funders <https://ooni.org/about/supporters#funders> *

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[New Report] Systematic suppression of independent media in Russia
by Maria Xynou 10 Dec '24

10 Dec '24

Hello, Today, in collaboration with RKS Global, OONI co-published a *new research report on the systematic suppression of independent media in Russia*. Our findings are based on OONI data analysis and interviews with 15 independent Russian news media organizations. Read our report in: * *English*: https://ooni.org/post/2024-russia-report/ * *Russian*: https://ooni.org/ru/post/2024-russia-report/ Our analysis of OONI data from Russia shows pervasive levels of news media censorship. We automatically confirmed the blocking of 279 news media domains -- including foreign and numerous independent Russian news media websites. Most blocks are implemented by means of TLS interference. As we observe the same pattern of TLS level interference in the vast majority of measurements collected from numerous networks during the same date range, OONI data suggests that these news media blocks are likely centrally managed by Roskomnadzor through the use of TSPU. Through interviews, independent Russian media organizations shared the following main challenges: * Financial and security challenges * Reduced ability to cover events in Russia * Partial loss of Russian audiences * Growing self-censorship * Closure of media organizations Despite the challenges, independent Russian media organizations remain resilient. The increased threats strengthened solidarity and cooperation among media outlets, and they have demonstrated a high level of adaptation to circumvent blocks and reach their audiences. Yet, international support is needed to strengthen the fight for press freedom in Russia. We document many more findings, which we encourage you to read through our report: https://ooni.org/post/2024-russia-report/ https://ooni.org/ru/post/2024-russia-report/ We thank OONI Probe users for contributing measurements, and we thank those who participated in interviews. <3 ~ OONI team.

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OONI Community Meeting_29th October, 14:00 UTC
by Elizaveta Yachmeneva 28 Oct '24

28 Oct '24

Hi everyone! This is a reminder that OONI will host an October Commuinty Meeting next Tuesday. Please join us to share your feedback for the new OONI Run v2 release <https://ooni.org/post/2024-launch-ooni-run-v2/> or to discuss the latest censorship events in different countries. => Where? OONI Slack channel: https://slack.ooni.org/ => When? Tuesday, 29th October 2024 at 14:00 UTC (for 1 hour) As always, we will be using this pad for agenda, so please add your questions or updates here: https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep Looking forward to seeing you all on Tuesday in #ooni channel! Warmly, ~ OONI Team

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[Launch] OONI Run v2 for community-driven censorship testing
by Maria Xynou 23 Oct '24

23 Oct '24

Hi friends, We are thrilled to announce the *launch of OONI Run v2*! We published a blog post which shares detailed information, as well as a *step-by-step guide* (with screenshots) for using OONI Run v2: https://ooni.org/post/2024-launch-ooni-run-v2/ Since 2017, OONI Run has supported community-driven efforts aimed at coordinating the testing of website blocks -- particularly during political events which triggered censorship events. With the launch of OONI Run v2, we address key community feedback (identified through an extensive usability study). OONI Run v2 (https://run.ooni.org/) is a major revamp, enabling you to *dynamically coordinate censorship testing with OONI Probe users* around the world. With OONI Run v2: • Create a (short!) link for the websites you want to measure for censorship • Share that link with OONI Probe users • *Update your OONI Run link anytime* if you want to add/change URLs (your community of testers will get updates automatically!) • *Automated testing* is supported (for you and your community) • *Find your OONI Run v2 measurements on OONI Explorer* ( https://explorer.ooni.org/) as open data in real-time (based on the OONI Run link ID) OONI Run v2 is currently only supported on Android. Please *update to the latest OONI Probe Android version (4.0.0) *to start using OONI Run v2: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.openobservatory.ooniprobe With the launch of OONI Run v2, we also introduced UI improvements to OONI Probe Android which we hope you like. We thank the OONI community for their invaluable feedback, which informed the design of OONI Run v2! Now let's coordinate and detect all the blocks! ~ OONI team.

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New animation: OONI Partner Gathering 2024
by Maria Xynou 21 Oct '24

21 Oct '24

Hi friends, Earlier this year, we hosted the *OONI Partner Gathering*: a 2-day event in Malaysia to strengthen collaborations on internet censorship research. Today, we are excited to share a new animation that provides a glimpse into the event! *Watch the animation here*: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Qq-mXSyAJfs We thank Robotina (https://www.robotina.it/) for creating this animation through their beautiful artwork! <3 Learn more: https://ooni.org/post/2024-ooni-partner-gathering-animation/ https://ooni.org/post/2024-ooni-partner-gathering-report/ Cheers, Maria.

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OONI Monthly Report: September 2024
by Maria Xynou 17 Oct '24

17 Oct '24

Hello, This email shares OONI's monthly report for September 2024. *# OONI Monthly Report: September 2024* Throughout September 2024, the OONI team’s work can be tracked through the various OONI GitHub repositories: https://github.com/ooni Highlights are shared in this report below. *## New partnership with Digital Rights Nepal* In September 2024, we established a new partnership with Digital Rights Nepal (https://digitalrightsnepal.org/) a leading non-profit organization dedicated to safeguarding and advancing digital rights in Nepal. As part of our partnership, we will collaborate on studying internet censorship in Nepal. We published a page featuring Digital Rights Nepal as a new OONI partner and highlighting their important work: https://ooni.org/partners/digital-rights-nepal/ *## Research report on internet censorship in Kazakhstan* On 19th September 2024, in collaboration with our partners Internet Freedom Kazakhstan (IFKZ) and Eurasian Digital Foundation, we co-published a new research report documenting TLS MITM attacks and the blocking of news media, human rights, and circumvention tool sites in Kazakhstan. We published the research report in both: * English: https://ooni.org/post/2024-kazakhstan-report/ * Russian: https://ooni.org/ru/post/2024-kazakhstan-report/ Our partner, Internet Freedom Kazakhstan (IFKZ), published the following article about our joint research report: https://ifkz.org/ru/article/internet-censorship-in-kazakhstan Our report shares censorship findings based on the analysis of OONI data collected from Kazakhstan over the past year, as well as legal analysis and interviews with a few media representatives. Our analysis of OONI data from Kazakhstan reveals: * TLS Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attacks * Blocking of at least 17 news media websites * Blocking of petition sites and of the Russian language edition of Amnesty International's website * Blocking of at least 73 circumvention tool websites In almost all cases, the blocks appear to be implemented by means of TLS interference, as OONI data shows that the TLS handshakes result in timeout errors after the Client Hello message. This is observed uniformly on all tested networks in Kazakhstan during the analysis period. Notably, we documented the use of the latest government-mandated root certificate authority (CA) – and its use to emit 6 distinct intermediate certificates – that were used to carry out TLS MITM attacks, targeting at least 14 domains on at least 19 networks in Kazakhstan. We found that these intermediate certificates were even being used to perform MITM attacks during periods of certificate invalidity. Overall, as the timing and types of blocked URLs are consistent across networks, ISPs in Kazakhstan likely implement blocks in a coordinated manner. Coordination among ISPs is further suggested by the fact that we found the same certificate used by 19 distinct ISPs to implement TLS MITM attacks. These TLS MITM attacks raise concerns because such practices weaken the online privacy and security of internet users in Kazakhstan. Our report received press coverage from the following outlets: * FactCheck Kazakhstan: https://factcheck.kz/novosti/internet-tsenzura-v-kazahstane-rezultaty-issle… * Ulysmedia Kazakhstan: https://ulysmedia.kz/rassledovaniya/38144-ramki-rukopozhatiia-i-lichnye-dan… * SecurityLab Russia: https://www.securitylab.ru/news/552299.php * Sledstvie Info: https://sledstvie.info/news/45234-informatcionnaja_izoljatsija_kazahstana_k… *## Report on the blocking of OONI Explorer in Russia* In September 2024, Russia started blocking access to OONI Explorer. We published a report, documenting the blocking of OONI Explorer in Russia based on OONI data: https://ooni.org/post/2024-russia-blocked-ooni-explorer/ On 11th September 2024, we received an email from Roskomnadzor, informing us of their decision to block access to OONI Explorer. On the same day, OONI data shows that ISPs in Russia started implementing the block. While Roskomnadzor mentioned their intention to restrict access to the Russian translation of our circumvention tool reachability measurements, in practice, the restriction is far-reaching. The block restricts access to all OONI data hosted on OONI Explorer. On some networks in Russia, we are able to automatically confirm the blocking of OONI Explorer based on fingerprints. For example, OONI data shows that DNS resolution returns an IP that hosts a block page. As part of this report, we made use of the data analysis capabilities of our upcoming OONI pipeline v5 to produce a chart with the breakdown of failure types and errors that enable the characterization of the block. On most networks in Russia, access to OONI Explorer appears to be blocked by means of TLS interference, as many measurements resulted in timeout errors and connection reset errors right after the Client Hello message during the TLS handshake. On 18th September 2024, our Russian partner, Roskomsvoboda ( https://roskomsvoboda.org/) shared news of the blocking of OONI Explorer with Russian communities via Telegram: https://t.me/ru_tech_talk/560 *## Report on the blocking of Twitter/X in Tanzania* On 30th August 2024, Tanzania blocked access to Twitter/X. In early September 2024, we published a short report on our Censorship Findings platform, documenting the block through OONI data. Our report on the (temporary) blocking of Twitter/X in Tanzania is available here: : https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/188763810301 It’s worth noting that our community members also independently reported on the blocking of Twitter/X in Tanzania through the use of OONI tools and data: https://x.com/MelamiVictoria/status/1829502734078185879 https://x.com/ZainaFoundation/status/1829536688890085645 *## Report on the blocking of Twitter/X in Brazil* On 31st August 2024, Brazil blocked access to Twitter/X. In early September 2024, we published a short report on our Censorship Findings platform, documenting the block through OONI data. Our report on the blocking of Twitter/X in Brazil is available here: https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/174962608001 It’s worth noting that our community members also independently reported on the blocking of Twitter/X in Brazil through the use of OONI tools and data: https://x.com/vesinfiltro/status/1830262921789669543 https://x.com/vinifortuna/status/1830349458384486599 https://x.com/OliverLinow/status/1829846237203333282 *## Presenting thematic censorship findings on OONI Explorer* In September 2024, we started developing the new thematic censorship findings pages for OONI Explorer based on the user research and mockups designed in previous months. These pages will focus on OONI measurements pertaining to News Media (https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/940) Social Media (https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/939) and Circumvention Tools (https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/941) and will offer users a way to explore OONI data focused on these specific themes. We also added support for theme tags that will enable the display of relevant reports on each thematic page of OONI Explorer ( https://github.com/ooni/explorer/pull/965) The launch date of these new pages will be determined in the coming weeks. *## Automating censorship detection and characterization based on OONI measurements* We released the OONI Pipeline v5.0.0-alpha4: https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/83 As part of this release, we: * Added a web interface for viewing observations; * Added an API for returning aggregates of observations; * Added a web view for plotting aggregates of observations; * Added support for performing observation generation using multiple cores (instead of multiple threads since it's CPU bound); * Separated the observation activities into distinct smaller activities allowing for more narrowly scoped scheduling and retry policies; * Changed the type of PrevRange so that it's possible to serialize it in JSON allowing to pass it as a parameter to activities; * Moved the update_assets into the observation activity; * Added support for passing config file via `CONFIG_FILE` environment variable; * Made improvements to the CLI commands; * Dropped several CLI arguments that should only be read from the config file; * Made other improvements related to typing. Following this release, we made some important improvements to the schema of the observation tables. Specifically, we: * Replaced observation_id with observation_idx ( https://github.com/ooni/data/issues/87) * Used the PARTITION KEY for deduplication instead of running deletes ( https://github.com/ooni/data/issues/88) These improvements are mainly targeted towards improving the performance of update operations and making them more robust to reprocessing since deduplication is handled natively using the MergeTree table engine deduplication. *## Data analysis for upcoming research report* As part of an upcoming research report on internet censorship in Russia, we analyzed OONI measurements collected from Russia over the past year. We completed this data analysis in September 2024, and further details about the analysis are available here: https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/847 *## Activities supported by OTF FOSS ### OONI Explorer* Notably, we launched an improved navigation menu for OONI Explorer ( https://explorer.ooni.org/) This work is available here: https://github.com/ooni/explorer/pull/950 Based on community feedback shared through our user research in previous months, we improved the navigation menu of OONI Explorer to enhance the discoverability of resources and to enable us to add upcoming new pages in the next months. *### OONI Probe Mobile* We continued to make progress on our multi-platform project that aims to refactor the OONI Probe mobile app. After making good progress on our internal MVP, we turned our attention to leveraging our initial work to start developing the iOS version of Deutsche Welle’s News Media Scan application. This includes tasks like creating the onboarding flow ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/104) building the results summary view (https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/109) and adding the ability to filter results ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/98) Additionally, we worked on the ability to update OONI Run v2 tests for our own internal MVP ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/53) Here is a list of all issues completed in September 2024 for our multi-platform project: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aclosed… *### OONI Run* As part of our final preparation for the launch of OONI Run v2, we took steps to ensure that by releasing OONI Run v2 we would not accidentally introduce any bugs that cause a drop in measurements. We improved our ability to filter measurements by different release channels, ensuring we can filter measurements by our open testing or “beta” channel for our Android application on the Google Play store. This way, we can more accurately compare different versions of our applications as we make changes and enhancements so we can increase our confidence in not introducing issues (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2803) *### OONI Backend Maintenance & DevOps* We worked on switching api.ooni.org to be served from AWS ( https://github.com/ooni/devops/issues/94) focusing first on what was necessary for the OONI Run v2 project so that both the mobile application and the web-based dashboard use the production API. As part of that work, we had to move our test helpers back to Digital Ocean as AWS was proving too costly (https://github.com/ooni/devops/issues/91) We also worked on several other items related to this overall task. ( https://github.com/ooni/devops/issues/93, https://github.com/ooni/devops/issues/95) *## Hiring process for OONI Junior Backend Developer job opening* As part of the ongoing hiring process for a new OONI Junior Backend Developer (https://ooni.org/post/2024-job-opening-ooni-backend-developer/) we continued to review incoming applications and interview shortlisted candidates. *## Test list updates* Throughout September 2024, we did multiple minor updates to the test lists for Kenya, Algeria, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, and Uganda, as well as to the Global test list. All of these updates have been merged ( https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pulls?q=is%3Apr+is%3Aclosed) We also reviewed and merged a more extensive update to the Cambodian test list submitted by the iMAP project: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1699/files *## Collaboration with agency to boost OONI’s social media presence* In September 2024, we started collaborating with Latte ( https://www.lattecreative.com/en/) an agency in Rome which supports organizations (including many nonprofit organizations, such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace) on improving their communication, branding, advocacy, and fundraising efforts. We are collaborating with Latte on designing an end-of-year fundraising strategy with the goal of boosting OONI’s donations, as well as on improving OONI’s communication and social media presence. *## Fellowship at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society* In September 2024, OONI’s Maria started a research fellowship at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. As part of her year-long fellowship, Maria will explore how internet censorship changed globally over the past eight years through OONI data. She will also carry out interviews to explore the role of advocacy and circumvention tool groups in responding to emergent censorship events. More information about the 2024-2025 Berkman Klein Center fellowship cohort is available here: https://cyber.harvard.edu/story/2024-07/incoming-2024-25-bkc-fellows *## Rapid response### Blocking of Telegram in El Salvador* On 15th September 2024, El Salvador blocked access to Telegram. On the same day, we rapidly responded by sharing relevant OONI data and findings on social media: https://x.com/OpenObservatory/status/1835360393906074078 The information we shared included a chart produced by OONI data analysis that we performed to examine the reachability of Telegram IPs in El Salvador by probe ASN and target. We found that access to Telegram was blocked on at least 5 networks in El Salvador (starting from around 4am UTC on 15th September 2024), with some ISPs blocking access to Telegram IPs, while others blocked access to Telegram by means of TLS interference. This blocking event resulted in a significant OONI measurement spike in El Salvador on 15th September 2024, as well as in ongoing measurement coverage thereafter (suggesting increased OONI Probe adoption and use of automated testing following the block). This is evident through aggregated OONI measurement coverage in El Salvador: https://explorer.ooni.org/chart/mat?probe_cc=SV&since=2024-08-12&until=2024… *## Community use of OONI tools and data### Sinar Project Blocked or Not tool* Notably, our long-term Malaysian partner, Sinar Project ( https://sinarproject.org/) launched a new “Blocked or Not” tool, which makes use of our miniooni research client and submits data to OONI. Their tool is available here: https://blockedornot.sinarproject.org/ Sinar Project’s Blocked or Not tool is a web service that enables users to easily and quickly check if a website is blocked or not in Malaysia. *### Sinar Project report on the blocking of an entertainment platform* On 20th September 2024, our partner, Sinar Project ( https://sinarproject.org/) published a report documenting the blocking of ArtStation.com, a prominent platform for showcasing games, film, media, and entertainment art. As part of their report, Sinar Project made use of OONI data and encouraged further OONI Probe testing in Malaysia. Read their report here: https://imap.sinarproject.org/resources/internet-censorship-update-blocking… *### Access Now’s press statement on the blocking of Twitter/X in Tanzania* In response to the blocking of Twitter/X in Tanzania, Access Now published a press release condemning the blocking of the platform. Their press release cites OONI data as technical evidence on the block. Read their press statement here: https://www.accessnow.org/press-release/civil-society-asks-who-blocked-x-ta… *### Cloudflare blog post on a global assessment of third-party connection tampering* In September 2024, Cloudflare published a blog post providing a global assessment of third-party connection tampering: https://blog.cloudflare.com/connection-tampering/ As part of this post, they provide case studies through which they compare Cloudflare TCP connection anomalies with OONI reports of connection tampering. Specifically, they compared anomalous Cloudflare TCP connection data with relevant OONI data from our reports on connection tampering cases in Tanzania and Ethiopia, and found that relevant Cloudflare data was consistent with OONI data. This is very interesting because by publishing data on TCP connection anomalies ( https://radar.cloudflare.com/security-and-attacks#tcp-resets-and-timeouts) Cloudflare enable researchers to have stronger signals of connection tampering when compared (and corroborated) with OONI data (and other relevant datasets). Learn more about the launch of Cloudflare Radar’s new dashboard on TCP resets and timeouts here: https://blog.cloudflare.com/tcp-resets-timeouts/ *## Community activities### Workshop for human rights defenders in Nepal* On 19th September 2024, OONI’s Elizaveta facilitated an online OONI workshop for human rights defenders in Nepal. This workshop was hosted in coordination with our new partner, Digital Rights Nepal ( https://ooni.org/partners/digital-rights-nepal/) *### Quarterly OONI Partner Meeting* On 20th September 2024, we hosted the quarterly OONI Partner Meeting via an online video platform. As part of this meeting, we presented and discussed the OONI training calendar for October 2024 and November 2024, which will involve a series of online OONI workshops that we will facilitate for our partners. These workshops include: * Introduction to internet censorship (9th October 2024) * How to use OONI Probe (16th October 2024) * OONI Run v2 demo (23rd October 2024) * Maintaining/updating the Citizen Lab test lists (6th November 2024) * OONI Explorer #1 (13th November 2024) * OONI Explorer #2 (20th November 2024) As part of these upcoming workshops, we aim to share relevant skills and knowledge to enable our partners to participate in OONI censorship measurement activities in their countries and regions. As an outcome, we hope that our partners will be equipped to share such knowledge further with their communities. As part of our Quarterly Partner Meeting, we also discussed updates to our partnership MoUs, plans for censorship monitoring during the upcoming 2025 elections around the world, as well as plans for other future partner events. *### Global Gathering 2024* Between 27th-29th September 2024, OONI’s Elizaveta and Jessie traveled to Portugal to attend the Global Gathering 2024. The detailed agenda of the event is available here: https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=Global_Gathering_Agend… As part of their participation, Elizaveta and Jessie: Hosted an OONI booth, during which they provided a live demo of our upcoming OONI Run v2 tool and shared OONI swag (27th and 29th September 2024) Facilitated a discussion on rapid response (28th September 2024) *### OONI Community Meeting* On 24th September 2024, we hosted the monthly OONI Community Meeting on our Slack channel (https://slack.ooni.org/) As part of this meeting, we provided updates from the OONI team, and we discussed the recent blocking of OONI Explorer in Russia, as well as the (global) community’s need to measure the availability of more VPN services and protocols. *## Measurement coverage* In September 2024, 56,049,250 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 3,182 networks in 176 countries around the world. This information can also be found through our measurement stats on OONI Explorer (see chart on “monthly coverage worldwide”): https://explorer.ooni.org/ —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *As a non-profit, we rely on donations and grants to defend a free and open internet for all.You can support OONI’s work through a donation (https://ooni.org/donate <https://ooni.org/donate>) or by getting OONI swag (https://shop.ooni.org/ <https://shop.ooni.org/>). We thank our supporters Jigsaw, Pantheon, Luminate, Amazon, DigitalOcean, Greenhost, Netlify, Surfshark, and VPNCompare for supporting OONI’s work and mission.If you are a company interested in supporting OONI, please refer to our Supporters page for more information: https://ooni.org/about/supporters <https://ooni.org/about/supporters>We also thank our funders for supporting our work over the years: https://ooni.org/about/supporters#funders <https://ooni.org/about/supporters#funders> *

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New OONI Community Interview: Chido Musodza, Localization Lab
by Elizaveta Yachmeneva 07 Oct '24

07 Oct '24

Hi everyone! We just published an interview with Chido Musodza, Program Associate, Community Engagement at our beloved Localization Lab <https://www.localizationlab.org/>: https://ooni.org/post/2024-interview-with-chido-musodza/ Many of our community members and partners are familiar with Localization Lab <https://ooni.org/partners/localization-lab/>’s work — thanks to their volunteers, OONI Probe is available in more than 20 languages, and OONI Explorer in more than 10. Chido is one of the people, grace to whom this became possible, and many of those who worked on our translations likely have already met her. In this interview, Chido shares why localization matters both for the products and the communities, how it empowers the development of minority languages and how it changes the digital space. Please watch the interview (https://youtu.be/nyXBfI6VZyc) share your thoughts in our Slack <https://slack.ooni.org/> and join Localization Lab’s community <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfgXL7UbC6eVk7YMg_gidFnBre3a6liYSn…> to support new translations! Warmly, Elizaveta

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OONI at Global Gathering (Estoril)!
by Elizaveta Yachmeneva 26 Sep '24

26 Sep '24

Hi all! I (Elizaveta, Community Coordinator) and Jessie (OONI’s amazing Project Manager) are coming to the Global Gathering <https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=Global_Gathering_2024> this year, and we will be hosting a booth, a circle and attending a couple of circles organised by our amazing partners <3 At the booth we will be hosting a demo of the upcoming OONI Run release, so please join us for this unique chance to get a peak and share feedback for the new features that we are going to share with everyone in the nearest weeks. We will also have stickers and some other presents at the booth, so please make sure to come and say hi! Here is the list of the activities we will definitely take part in at the GG: * OONI's booth on 27th September from 13pm to 15pm. We will be demoing the new version of OONI Run at 13:40. * Circle 10, 'Current blocking trends, how states in different countries do it' on 27th September organised by Roskomsvoboda <https://roskomsvoboda.org/>. We will definitely stop by to hear insights on the current state of internet censorship in different countries. The pad will be updated with the agenda topics very soon: https://pad.riseup.net/p/GG-2024-Day1-Circle10c * Circle 10, 'The How and Why of Rapid Response' on 28th September from 13:30 to 14:30 that we will co-host together with IODA <https://ioda.inetintel.cc.gatech.edu/>. More detailed agenda for our circle on rapid response: https://pad.riseup.net/p/GG-2024-Day2-Circle10a * OONI's booth on 29th September from 15.30pm to 17.30pm. We will start the demo of the updated OONI Run at 16:00. If you are hosting any other circles and/or community events and you want OONI to join, please drop me a message :) Looking forward to seeing some of you in the upcoming days! Warmly, Elizaveta

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