Hello,
Russia recently blocked access to one of our platforms, OONI Explorer: a
large open dataset on internet censorship worldwide (
https://explorer.ooni.org/)
Today 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.
On most networks in Russia, access to OONI Explorer appears to be blocked
by means of TLS interference. Many measurements resulted in timeout errors
and connection reset errors right after the Client Hello message during the
TLS handshake.
While ISPs in Russia blocked access to OONI Explorer, they did not block
access to our main website (ooni.org) nor to our censorship measurement
app (OONI Probe) – as suggested by the fact that the overall OONI
measurement coverage from Russia seems quite stable.
It is still possible for people in Russia to download OONI data from the
OONI API (https://api.ooni.io/) or to fetch OONI data from our S3 bucket (
https://docs.ooni.org/data/)
We thank OONI Probe users in Russia for contributing measurements!
~ OONI team.
Hi everyone!
This is a reminder that the monthly OONI Community Meeting takes place tomorrow.
Please add any questions about internet censorship or OONI tools to this pad:
https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep
You are also very welcome to come and share news and updates on your projects from the past months.
Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow in #ooni channel!
=> Where? OONI Slack channel: https://slack.ooni.org/
=> When? Tuesday, 24th September 2024 at 14:00 UTC (for 1 hour)
Warmly,
~ Elizaveta
Hello,
Today, in collaboration with Eurasian Digital Foundation and Internet
Freedom Kazakhstan (IFKZ), OONI co-published a *new research report
documenting TLS MITM attacks and the blocking of news media, human rights,
and circumvention tool sites in Kazakhstan*.
Read our report in:
* *English*: https://ooni.org/post/2024-kazakhstan-report/
* *Russian*: https://ooni.org/ru/post/2024-kazakhstan-report/
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*
The blocked news media websites include:
* Many Russian news media websites (such as the Russian TV Channel
Tsargrad, Sputnik and Pogrom, the 360 Russian satellite TV channel, and the
Ferghana Information Agency);
* A few Kyrgyz news media websites (Kloop and Centralasia.media);
* One international news website (Vice News).
OONI data shows the targeted blocking of amnesty.org.ru, www.change.org,
www.ipetitions.com, and egov.press. Meanwhile, Amnesty International’s
English language website was accessible in Kazakhstan, as were many other
international human rights websites (such as Human Rights Watch).
OONI data also shows the blocking of numerous censorship circumvention tool
websites, including those of NordVPN, ExpressVPN, ProtonVPN, OpenVPN,
TunnelBear, and Surfshark VPN. However, OONI data suggests that both Tor
and Psiphon VPN were reachable in Kazakhstan during the analysis period.
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.
Learn more through our report: https://ooni.org/post/2024-kazakhstan-report/
We also summarize some of the findings in these social media threads:
https://x.com/OpenObservatory/status/1836831876524527853,
https://mastodon.social/@ooni/113166013137593960
We thank OONI Probe users in Kazakhstan for contributing measurements,
supporting this study.
~ OONI team.
Hello,
This email shares OONI's monthly report for August 2024.
*# OONI Monthly Report: August 2024*
Throughout August 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 the OONI Outreach Kit in Arabic and Farsi*
In August 2024, we published the OONI Outreach Kit in:
* Arabic: https://ooni.org/ar/support/ooni-outreach-kit/
* Farsi: https://ooni.org/fa/support/ooni-outreach-kit/
Huge thanks to the translators for making the OONI Outreach Kit materials
available in Arabic and Farsi, supporting OONI community engagement efforts
in the Middle East! The OONI Outreach Kit is also available in English,
Russian, French, Spanish, and Swahili (
https://ooni.org/support/ooni-outreach-kit/)
*## Published report on the blocking of Instagram in Turkiye*
On 2nd August 2024, we published a short report on the blocking of
Instagram in Turkiye: https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/330022197701
This report shares relevant OONI data and an interpretation of the
measurement findings.
*## Research report on internet censorship in Kazakhstan*
In preparation for the upcoming publication of a research report on
internet censorship in Kazakhstan, we continued to review the findings and
edit the text accordingly in collaboration with our partner, Internet
Freedom Kazakhstan (https://ooni.org/partners/ifkz) Notably, we translated
the whole research report in Russian so that we can publish it in both
English and Russian, reaching more audiences. We also coordinated with
designers to plan the upcoming design of the report in PDFs. We aim to
publish this research report in September 2024.
*## OONI Probe Mobile*
In August 2024, we released OONI Probe 3.8.9 for both Android (
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2791) and iOS (
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2792)
We also continued making progress on our multi-platform project.
Specifically, we identified the initial suite of features we will focus on
for our first internal build of the new application. We will use this
application for testing, further development and to ensure feature parity
with the old application.
We worked on several different features, and some highlights include:
* Implementing the dashboard:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/55
* Running tests: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/59
* Results lists: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/42
* Implementing application settings:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/50
The full list of completed issues can be found here:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aclosed…
*## OONI Probe CLI*
In August 2024, we released OONI Probe CLI 3.23.0. The full changelog is
available here: https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/releases/tag/v3.23.0
*## OONI Probe Desktop*
In August 2024, we released OONI Probe Desktop 3.9.7 (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/releases/tag/v3.9.7) and 3.9.8 (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/releases/tag/v3.9.8)
The latest release integrates the OONI Probe CLI 3.23.0 into OONI Probe
Desktop: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2793
*## OONI Run*
As part of our work on creating the next generation version of OONI Run
(“OONI Run v2”), we continued our efforts with QA testing for the Android
version of the new OONI Probe app that will include both an improved UI and
support for new OONI Run links.
We addressed several bugs and UI improvements:
* We improved the layout of the test overview screen:
https://github.com/ooni/run/issues/186
* We fixed some issues with the updated tag not appearing properly:
https://github.com/ooni/run/issues/188
In preparation for the upcoming launch of OONI Run v2, we:
* Continued to test OONI Run v2 extensively;
* Finalized the copy;
* Wrote a blog post for the announcement of the OONI Run v2 launch (which
includes a detailed user guide);
* Updated the OONI Data Policy to account for changes introduced with OONI
Run v2 (https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/pull/1601)
* Updated all documentation across our website to ensure the correct OONI
Run domain (https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/pull/1602)
*## OONI Explorer*
In August 2024, we worked on revising the navigation bar for OONI Explorer:
https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/938
We wanted to do this because the current navigation bar is fairly crowded
and we will eventually need the ability to add more items to it in the near
future. We will launch this in the coming months.
*## OONI Backend*
We finished setting up integration tests for a framework to allow us to A/B
test our improved APIs more effectively:
https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/856
We updated the OONI Explorer Findings platform to use postgresql to store
findings, since our Clickhouse database is not backed up. This helps
improve the stability of this feature:
https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/855
We also finished the core refactor of our measurements service, which
implements improved API principles ensuring ease-of-use and stability of
the API: https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/851
*## Automating censorship detection and characterization based on OONI
measurements*
In August 2024, several important improvements were landed inside of the
main branch of the OONI data pipeline v5.
Specifically, we worked towards releasing the OONI Pipeline v5.0.0-alpha.3 (
https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/81) which includes the following
improvements:
* Switched to threaded workers via co-routines;
* Removed unused commands;
* Removed unused and dead code;
* Added support for update assets from s3 instead of archive.org;
* Removed file based locking for asset updates;
* Added alter queries for buffer tables in DB migration helper;
* Fixed bug in database migration generation;
* Addressed issues related to setting workflow and schedule IDs to
facilitate re-running backfills;
* Properly set the transaction_id for more modern tests that support it
(eg. web_connectivity 0.5).
We then worked towards making a release candidate for OONI Pipeline v5. As
part of this, in order to empower our team to view the new observations, we
developed a simple web interface for viewing observations and plotting them
in charts: https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/83
We also started experimenting with a Bayesian network based approach to
analysis which is implemented as several notebooks inside of the following
pull request: https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/85
*## Hiring process for OONI Junior Backend Developer job opening*
As part of the 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, track applications, follow-up
with applicants, and interview shortlisted candidates.
*## Test list updates*
We reviewed and merged updates to the test list for Myanmar:
https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1754
*## Updated Nepal report following the unblocking of TikTok*
We updated our previous report on the blocking of TikTok in Nepal to
include OONI data and information in relation to the unblocking of the
service: https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/112092297601
*## Rapid response### Blocking of Signal in Russia, Venezuela, and Pakistan*
In response to the blocking of the Signal Private Messenger app in Russia,
Venezuela, and Pakistan (which was blocked in all 3 countries in August
2024), we shared relevant OONI data and information on social media
channels: https://x.com/OpenObservatory/status/1828028323269611553
*### Blocking of Twitter/X in Tanzania*
In response to the blocking of Twitter/X in Tanzania, we shared relevant
OONI data and information on social media channels:
https://x.com/OpenObservatory/status/1829600571327914094
*## Citations### USENIX paper on measuring the Great Firewall’s web
censorship at scale*
In August 2024, researchers from the University of British Columbia,
University of Chicago, University of Toronto, Carnegie Mellon University,
SRI International and Stony Brook University wrote a paper (“GFWeb:
Measuring the Great Firewall’s Web Censorship at Scale”) which was
published by USENIX.
Their paper cites OONI quite extensively, and it’s available here:
https://www.usenix.org/system/files/usenixsecurity24-hoang.pdf
*### Global Voices article on Instagram block in Turkiye *
Global Voices published an article on the blocking of Instagram in Turkiye,
citing OONI data:
https://globalvoices.org/2024/08/02/turkey-blocks-access-to-instagram/
*### Report on Internet shutdowns in Tanzania*
Our partner, Zaina Foundation, published a report on internet shutdowns in
Tanzania, which is available here:
https://zainafoundationtz.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TZReport-on-Intern…
As part of their report, they cite OONI data (and include an OONI MAT
chart) on the blocking of Twitter/X in Tanzania.
*### RSF Resource for Journalists on OONI Probe and OONI Explorer*
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published an article about OONI Probe and
OONI Explorer as part of their resources for journalists:
https://safety.rsf.org/ooni-a-tool-to-check-whether-an-online-service-is-be…
*## Measurement coverage*
In August 2024, 60,819,022 OONI Probe measurements were collected from
3,238 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> *
Hello,
This email shares OONI's monthly report for July 2024.
*# OONI Monthly Report: July 2024*
Throughout July 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 Indonesia’s Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression
Network (SAFEnet)*
In July 2024, we established a new partnership with Indonesia’s Southeast
Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet): https://safenet.or.id/
We published a page to feature SAFEnet’s work on our Partner pages:
https://ooni.org/partners/safenet/
Through our partnership with SAFEnet, we aim to collaborate on measuring
internet censorship in Indonesia.
*## Publication of OONI Partner Gathering 2024 Report*
We published a report on the OONI Partner Gathering 2024: a 2-day event
hosted in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which brought our partners from Asia and
the Middle East together to exchange skills and knowledge on internet
censorship research.
Read the report here:
https://ooni.org/post/2024-ooni-partner-gathering-report/
In May 2024, we hosted the OONI Partner Gathering with the goal of
strengthening regional and global collaborations on censorship measurement
research and advocacy.
The event included 45 individuals from 30 countries. Specifically, the
participants included OONI partners from Southeast Asia, South Asia, East
Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East, some OONI partners who work
internationally, as well as the OONI team.
Why Malaysia? We developed a script which identified Malaysia as a
visa-friendly location for our participants. We also loved the fact that
this data finding coincided with the base of our long-term partner, Sinar
Project!
Based on partner feedback which shaped the agenda, the OONI Partner
Gathering included a diverse set of 25 censorship-related sessions --
ranging from advocacy and litigation to research and data analysis.
View the detailed Agenda here:
https://ooni.org/documents/OONI-Partner-Gathering-Agenda.pdf
As part of the event, we had the opportunity to exchange experiences,
skills and knowledge, to improve our understanding of local challenges and
community needs, and to collect invaluable feedback. We have documented the
partner feedback here:
https://ooni.org/post/2024-ooni-partner-gathering-report/#partner-feedback
We expect such feedback to inform the improvement of OONI tools!
As an outcome of the OONI Partner Gathering, we also expect to see
increased use of OONI tools & data in support of research and advocacy over
the next years! We share more details on the outcomes of the event here:
https://ooni.org/post/2024-ooni-partner-gathering-report/#outcomes
Huge thanks to our partners for their invaluable feedback and
participation! You made the event an unforgettable experience for us all.
Warm thanks to the Ford Foundation and Luminate for supporting the OONI
Partner Gathering 2024 and making this event possible!
We aim to host additional OONI Partner Gathering events for our partners in
Africa and Latin America over the next few years.
*## Published new reports on the OONI Censorship Findings page### Report on
the blocking of Al Jazeera in Israel*
On 4th July 2024, we published a report on the blocking of Al Jazeera in
Israel:
https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/62771144901
This report shares relevant OONI data and an interpretation of the
measurement findings.
*### Report on the blocking of Facebook in Bangladesh*
On 18th July 2024, we published a report on the blocking of Facebook in
Bangladesh amid student protests:
https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/45013413801
This report shares relevant OONI data and an interpretation of the
measurement findings.
*### Report on the blocking of DuckDuckGo in Indonesia*
On 30th July 2024, we published a report on the blocking of the DuckDuckGo
search engine in Indonesia:
https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/282511010901
This report shares relevant OONI data and an interpretation of the
measurement findings.
*## Release of the OONI Test Lists Editor in 9 languages*
In July 2024, we released our Test Lists Editor (
https://test-lists.ooni.org/) in 9 new languages: Arabic, Burmese, French,
German, Khmer, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish.
By adding such localization support to the Test Lists Editor, many more
community members around the world can now more easily contribute to
websites for censorship testing. We thank the Localization Lab community (
https://www.localizationlab.org/) for the translations!
*## OONI Probe Mobile*
Building on our proof of concept that we worked on in previous months, we
took the next step in our multi-platform project. The goal of this is to
unify how we build our applications across mobile and desktop to make it
more efficient for us to build and maintain them. We will start with
focusing on our Android and iOS applications first. You can see our
repository for this work here:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues
The specific tasks we started include:
* Building up a project backlog;
* Working on tooling and instrumentation set up (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/pulls?q=is%3Apr+is%3Aclosed+)
* Iterating on PoC to finalize approaches for specific features (
https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/1535)
We also fixed a crash reported by the community
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2750
*## OONI Run*
As part of our work on creating the next generation version of OONI Run
(“OONI Run v2”), we continued our efforts with QA testing for the Android
version of the new OONI Probe app that will include both an improved UI and
support for new OONI Run links. We addressed several bugs and UI
improvements: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2756
We also took steps to ensure that OONI Run v2 links would also work on iOS,
since we are prioritizing releasing OONI Run v2 on Android first:
https://github.com/ooni/run/issues/182
In preparation for the upcoming launch of OONI Run v2, we edited the copy
in the strings for the OONI Run v2 web interface, as well as the copy in
the new strings for OONI Probe Mobile. We also tested OONI Run v2
extensively.
*## OONI Design System*
We wrapped up the changes required to migrate from Styled System to
TailwindCSS. The changes included removing a lot of redundant components
and replacing them with utility classes instead, and replacing old styles
with tailwind utility classes for the remaining components:
https://github.com/ooni/design-system/pull/175
*## OONI Explorer*
We fully integrated the updated ooni-components (design system
implementation), we fully removed redundant components (replaced with
TailwindCSS utility classes), and we replaced Styled Components with
TailwindCSS styling: https://github.com/ooni/explorer/pull/947
*## Automating censorship detection and characterization based on OONI
measurements*
In July 2024, OONI’s Arturo visited the Oxford Internet Institute – with
whom we have a research collaboration (https://ooni.org/partners/glitch/) –
to exchange knowledge and ideas with researchers on advancing OONI’s data
analysis techniques. This led to exploring some other approaches in terms
of analyzing OONI data through Bayesian network based techniques (
https://github.com/ooni/data/issues/84) and we worked on these techniques
throughout August 2024.
We also made progress on getting the OONI data pipeline ready for a
production deployment. Specifically, we:
* Added support for running the temporal workflows in temporal cloud:
https://github.com/ooni/data/issues/78
* Fixed a bug related to parsing the new network_events data format, which
was affecting our ability to process web_connectivity 0.5 and tor tests:
https://github.com/ooni/data/issues/80
* Implemented several other code quality improvements:
https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/79
*## OONI Backend*
We worked on porting the OONI Findings API to our new pattern, as well as
migrating it to Postgresql. Additionally, we got started on porting the
Measurements API to the new pattern:
https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/862https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/814
We worked on setting up integration tests for a framework to allow us to
A/B test our improved APIs more effectively (
https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/856) We finalized our CloudHSM set
up for managing certificates related to our desktop application (
https://github.com/ooni/devops/issues/55) We also shut down unneeded
droplets we weren’t using on DigitalOcean (
https://github.com/ooni/devops/issues/64)
*## Hiring process for OONI Junior Backend Developer job opening*
Throughout July 2024, we reviewed applications submitted for our OONI
Junior Backend Developer job opening (
https://ooni.org/post/2024-job-opening-ooni-backend-developer/) As part of
this process, we tracked applications, followed up with applicants, and
interviewed shortlisted candidates.
*## Research report on internet censorship in Kazakhstan*
Based on the analysis of OONI measurements (
https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/846) we worked on writing a
research report on internet censorship in Kazakhstan. We worked on this
research report in collaboration with our partner, Internet Freedom
Kazakhstan (https://ooni.org/partners/ifkz) Throughout July 2024, we
completed the necessary research and writing of all sections of the
research report. We aim to publish this research report in September 2024.
## Published designed PDFs for research reports on internet censorship in
Russia and Iran
Thanks to support from the Open Technology Fund (OTF) User Experience &
Discovery Lab (UXD Lab), Ura Design (https://ura.design/) created designed
PDFs for two of our research reports:
Technical multi-stakeholder report on Internet shutdowns: The case of Iran
amid autumn 2022 protests:
https://ooni.org/documents/OONI-Iran-multi-stakeholder-report.pdf
New blocks emerge in Russia amid war in Ukraine: An OONI network
measurement analysis:
https://ooni.org/documents/OONI-Report-New-blocks-emerge-in-Russia-amid-war…
By designing PDF copies of the above 2 research reports, Ura Design helped
ease the accessibility of the findings and support their dissemination and
long-term impact. We therefore thank Ura Design and the OTF for these
designs!
*## Community use of OONI data*
*### FOCI 2024 paper on automated DNS tampering detection using machine
learning*
A FOCI 2024 paper was published which applies supervised and unsupervised
models to recent global DNS measurement data collected by OONI.
This paper is available here:
https://www.petsymposium.org/foci/2024/foci-2024-0008.pdf
*### Other OONI citations in FOCI 2024 papers*
OONI was also cited in the following FOCI 2024 papers:
https://www.petsymposium.org/foci/2024/foci-2024-0007.pdfhttps://www.petsymposium.org/foci/2024/foci-2024-0006.pdfhttps://www.petsymposium.org/foci/2024/foci-2024-0012.pdf
*### Tehran E-Commerce Association Report*
In July 2024, the Tehran E-Commerce Association published a report on the
“Quality of Internet in Iran”, which makes use of OONI data.
Their report is available here:
https://etchamber.ir/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Internet-Quality-Report-v3.…
*### News article by Bangladesh’s Prothom Alo on the Facebook block*
Bangladesh’s Prothom Alo media outlet published a news article on the
blocking of Facebook in Bangladesh, citing OONI data. Their article is
available here: https://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/h4uzv1zi9f
*## Community activities### FOCI 2024*
On 15th July 2024, OONI’s Arturo attended the Free and Open Communications
on the Internet (FOCI) 2024 Summer Workshop in Bristol, UK (
https://foci.community/foci24.html#2024-summer-program) The event included
the presentation of numerous academic papers on internet censorship
research, including some that cite OONI data (as mentioned previously).
As part of his participation, Arturo served as the session chair for the
sessions on “Censorship Circumvention Strategies”. He also generally serves
on the FOCI Program Committee.
*### OONI Community Meeting*
On 30th July 2024, we hosted the monthly OONI Community Meeting on our
Slack channel (https://slack.ooni.org/)
As part of this meeting, we discussed the outcomes of the OONI Partner
Gathering 2024 and the possibility of hosting similar sessions online for
the broader OONI community. We also discussed plans for OONI’s new Social
Media Censorship Alert System, research based on OONI data, and how to
contribute fingerprints for censorship detection.
*## Measurement coverage*
In July 2024, 58,294,513 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 2,996
networks in 173 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> *
Hello,
This email shares OONI's monthly report for June 2024.
*# OONI Monthly Report: June 2024*
Throughout June 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 Job Opening for OONI Junior Backend Developer*
In June 2024, we published a new job opening for a Junior Backend
Developer: https://ooni.org/post/2024-job-opening-ooni-backend-developer/
We are looking for a dedicated backend developer to join our team to work
on our backend components and infrastructure, and to provide OONI data
analysis support for our research efforts.
Following the publication of the job opening, we started to receive many
applications and we allocated team resources towards reviewing incoming
applications.
*## Published OONI Community Interview with Tawanda Mugari (Digital Society
of Africa)*
In June 2024, we published a new OONI Community Interview with Tawanda
Mugari, the Co-Founder and Geek in Chief of Digital Society of Africa (
https://digitalsociety.africa/)
You can watch Tawanda’s interview and learn about his work here:
https://ooni.org/post/2024-interview-with-tawanda-mugari/
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=Pam2UQoZ1qM&list=PL1sH9kYR-16nlPlFT-RDBs8O0…
*## OONI Probe Mobile*
In June 2024, we released OONI Probe 3.8.8 on Android (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/releases/tag/v3.8.8) and iOS (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/releases/tag/v3.8.8)
We also released version 3.8.8 of the News Media Scan app, which included
support for OONI Run V2 functionality so that Deutsche Welle can maintain
their list of test URLs.
We also worked on fixing the following bugs on OONI Probe iOS:
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2710https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2744
*## OONI Run*
After completing the work for the News Media Scan app, we turned our
attention back to our implementation of OONI Run v2. We started working on
the iOS implementation of the new dashboard view:
https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/1512https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/1516https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/1514
We also fixed the following bugs and addressed feedback during our internal
beta testing round:
https://github.com/ooni/run/issues/180https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2756
Additionally, we discussed how we want to handle backwards compatibility
for v1 OONI Run links, once we launch v2. We decided that v1 links will
have an intermediary page before launching the mobile application which
will encourage users to migrate to v2 before a specific date (
https://github.com/ooni/run/issues/183)
*## OONI Probe CLI*
Notably, we merged the OpenVN experiment, implemented by Ain Ghazal as part
of their OTF ICFP fellowship with us:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1585
This experiment allows OONI Probe users to measure OpenVPN blocking.
Further information about the experiment is available in the specification:
https://github.com/ooni/spec/blob/master/nettests/ts-040-openvpn.md
*## Creating a methodology for measuring throttling *
We revised our plan for performing the A/B testing to make sure that Web
Connectivity v0.5 produces the same results as v0.4 in terms of top-level
metrics (i.e., the “blocked” and “accessible” values and the resulting
colors shown by OONI Explorer).
Between 11th to 13th June 2024, we traveled to Atlanta, USA, to participate
in the first Open Measurement Gathering: a 3-day event (hosted at Georgia
Tech) that brought the OONI, IODA, Censored Planet, M-Lab and Cloudflare
Radar teams together to share skills, knowledge, and methods on network
measurement.
As part of this event, we co-facilitated a session with IODA on “Existing
and new methods for measuring throttling”. During this session, we shared
details of our methods, and learned details of the new methods that IODA
are developing for measuring cases of throttling. While our approaches and
methods for measuring throttling are very different (and look at different
types of throttling), they are very complementary, and we identified
opportunities for future collaboration.
*## Expanding OONI’s testing model to support richer testing input*
We have successfully expanded our testing model to support richer testing
input:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pulls?q=label%3A2024-06-richer-input+is%3…
In June 2024, we refactored the OONI Probe engine to improve its internal
representation of richer input and to enable each experiment to define its
own richer testing input structure (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1615) This refactoring change
enabled us to reduce the entailed complexity by moving richer testing input
around. In turn, this lower complexity enabled us to read richer testing
input from experiment-specific APIs, as well as from OONI Run v2
descriptors.
We merged the OpenVPN experiment (developed by Ain Ghazal as part of their
ICFP fellowship with OONI) with full support for using richer testing input
(https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1585) We also published a document
which provides details of our design choices for supporting richer testing
input, the refactoring of the OONI Probe engine to enable richer testing
input, our implementation of richer testing input through the OpenVPN
experiment, as well as our implementation of other related improvements.
This document also lists next steps for potential future work:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/blob/master/docs/design/dd-008-richer-inp…
*## OONI Explorer*
As part of the effort to update our design system implementation, we
updated most of the components to use Tailwind CSS (instead of previously
used styled-system and styled-components):
https://github.com/ooni/explorer/pull/947
*## General backend work*
We added IPv6 support to ooni-backendproxy and other AWS based deployments,
allowing us to migrate DigitalOcean-based test helpers to the new
deployment strategy: https://github.com/ooni/devops/pull/61
*## Automating censorship detection and characterization based on OONI
measurements*
Notably, we merged a large area of work related to:
Optimizing the performance of the table writers for observations;
Refactoring of the observation data model.
Details on what was done are available through the following pull request
description: https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/74
Between 11th to 13th June 2024, we also presented and shared our new
pipeline (https://github.com/ooni/data) and data analysis advancements with
internet measurement experts as part of our participation at the Open
Measurement Gathering in Atlanta, USA. This enabled us to gather feedback
from experts working on similar problems (such as Censored Planet). Quite
similarly, we continued to collect feedback for the improvement of our data
analysis methods through meetings with internet measurement experts at the
Oxford Internet Institute.
*## Data analysis for upcoming research report*
As part of an upcoming research report on internet censorship in
Kazakhstan, we analyzed OONI measurements collected from Kazakhstan over
the past year. We completed this data analysis in June 2024, and further
details about the analysis are available here:
https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/846
*## Test list updates*
In response to the adoption of an LGBT propaganda law in Georgia, we
updated the Georgian test list to include the websites of LGBTQ+
organizations: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1739
Based on the statement of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (
https://www.mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1959391/) we added 80 foreign
news media websites (whose services were suspended in Russia) to the
Russian test list: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1744
We also reviewed and merged community contributions to the following test
lists:
* Vietnam, Malaysia: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1745
* Belarus: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1738
* South Korea: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1700
* Brazil: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1701
* Cambodia: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1699
* Slovenia: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1697
* Other: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1705
*## Call for LGBTQ website testing during Pride Month*
LGBTQ websites are blocked in many countries around the world. Similarly to
previous years, we made a call to action to encourage the OONI Probe
testing of LGBTQ websites during Pride Month (and beyond) through our
social media channels:
https://x.com/OpenObservatory/status/1806284856998936597,
https://mastodon.social/@ooni/112688417530827272
The threads through the above links:
* Include a call for OONI Probe testing of LGBTQ websites (which we
previously collected in collaboration with OutRight International);
* Encourage people to contribute LGBTQ websites for ongoing
monitoring/testing through our Test Lists Editor;
* Share our previous reports documenting the blocking of LGBTQ websites
based on OONI data;
* Share links for ongoing OONI Probe testing and for monitoring the
blocking of LGBTQ websites worldwide based on real-time OONI data.
*## Outreach Kit with new illustrations *
In June 2024, we updated the materials of the OONI Outreach Kit with the
new illustrations created by Ura Design:
https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/pull/1569
*## Community use of OONI data### ISOC Pulse blog post on internet
disruptions in Kenya*
In June 2024, ISOC published a blog post documenting the internet
disruptions in Kenya amid protests:
https://pulse.internetsociety.org/blog/kenya-internet-disrupted-amidst-prot…
Their blog post cites OONI data, includes OONI data charts and encourages
readers in Kenya to run OONI Probe to contribute more measurements.
*## Community activities### Ford Foundation Retreat*
Between 3rd-5th June 2024, OONI’s Maria attended the Ford Foundation Tech &
Society Retreat in Nebraska City, USA. As part of her participation, Maria
co-facilitated a session on partner engagement, and facilitated a session
which provided a live demo on using OONI Explorer to investigate internet
censorship.
*### Open Measurement Gathering*
Between 11th-13th June 2024, OONI’s Jessie, Maria, Maja, and Simone
traveled to Atlanta, USA, to participate in the first Open Measurement
Gathering (OMG): a 3-day event which brought internet measurement projects
together to exchange skills and knowledge on measuring and reporting on
internet censorship globally (
https://x.com/OpenObservatory/status/1803734336300032218)
This event was hosted by IODA at Georgia Tech, organized in collaboration
with M-Lab, and supported by the Open Technology Fund. The participants
included team members from the following organizations/projects: IODA,
M-Lab, Censored Planet, Cloudflare, and OONI.
As part of our participation in this event, we:
* Presented OONI’s measurement methodologies and tools (“OONI Measurement
101” session);
* Presented OONI’s open dataset and methods for interpreting the data
(“OONI Data Dive” session);
* Co-facilitated a session on methodologies for measuring cases of
throttling;
* Facilitated a session on strengthening collaboration on research and
reporting on internet censorship.
We thank the Open Technology Fund for supporting this event, and we thank
IODA, M-Lab, Censored Planet and Cloudflare for the valuable insights and
discussions!
*### OONI Partner Quarterly Meeting*
On 25th June 2024, we hosted the first OONI Partner Quarterly Meeting (a
private video meeting with our partners) to gather feedback and discuss the
future of the Partnership Program with the OONI Partner Network.
During the call, we agreed to host similar calls every quarter to share
updates from the community, share OONI updates, and to discuss partner
needs.
*### OONI Community Meeting*
On 25th June 2024, we hosted the monthly OONI Community Meeting on our
Slack channel (https://slack.ooni.org/)
As part of this meeting, we gathered feedback from the community on the
structure of OONI’s documentation and received a request to update the
structure of the community documents and educational materials. We also
discussed the possibility of hosting open training sessions for the OONI
community.
*## Measurement coverage*
In June 2024, 54,898,348 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 2,825
networks in 173 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> *
Hello,
This email shares OONI's monthly report for May 2024.
*# OONI Monthly Report: May 2024*
Throughout May 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.
*## Hosted the OONI Partner Gathering 2024 in Malaysia*
On 8th and 9th May 2024, we hosted an in-person OONI Partner Gathering 2024
in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
As part of this 2-day event, we brought our partners (primarily from Asia
and the Middle East) together to exchange skills and knowledge on internet
censorship research. The goal of the event was to strengthen global and
regional collaborations on censorship measurement research and advocacy.
The OONI Partner Gathering 2024 brought together 45 individuals from 30
countries. Specifically, the participants included OONI partners from
Southeast Asia, South Asia, East Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East (
https://ooni.org/partners) some OONI partners who work internationally, as
well as the whole OONI team. The event was possible thanks to generous
support from the Ford Foundation (https://www.fordfoundation.org/) and
Luminate (https://www.luminategroup.com/)
As part of the OONI Partner Gathering 2024, we had the following objectives:
* Exchange skills, knowledge, and methodologies to empower community
participation in censorship measurement research and advocacy;
* Better understand local challenges and develop strategies for improving
censorship measurement research around the world;
* Better understand partner/community needs;
* Collect community feedback to support the improvement of OONI tools and
methodologies;
* Strengthen partnerships and strategically define goals and priorities on
the study of internet censorship in collaboration with partners.
The ultimate goal of the OONI Partner Gathering 2024 was to strengthen the
OONI partnership network to help ensure that internet censorship is
well-documented and rapidly addressed so that the world’s most at-risk
individuals – human rights defenders, journalists, activists, and
marginalized people in repressive environments — have consistent and open
access to the internet.
The agenda included a mixture of skill-share sessions, presentations,
hands-on exercises, and interactive group discussions. We included a
variety of parallel sessions to accommodate more sessions in the agenda,
and to encourage more active participation in smaller group discussions. To
provide space for discussions on ideas and needs that may emerge during the
event, we also included a slot for “unconference” style sessions.
Overall, the two-day OONI Partner Gathering 2024 event included 25
sessions, 20 of which were part of the official agenda, while 5 were
proposed and facilitated by participants as part of the “unconference”
session slots. The sessions were facilitated by both the OONI team and our
partners. Notably, 9 sessions (from the official agenda) were facilitated
by 11 of our partners, who provided amazing presentations sharing their
work! We thank all those who facilitated sessions and participated in
note-taking, helping to ensure a dynamic, inclusive, interesting, and
well-documented event.
To help ensure a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment for all
participants of the OONI Partner Gathering 2024, we shared the event’s Code
of Conduct (CoC) with all participants prior to the event, and we set up an
Incident Response Committee (composed of two partners and two OONI team
members). No CoC violations were reported.
The main outcomes of the OONI Partner Gathering 2024 include:
* *Deeper understanding of regional challenges and partner needs. *Throughout
the sessions of the OONI Partner Gathering, we gained deeper insight into
the challenges experienced by our partners. Specifically, we mapped out
current and emerging digital rights threats, the challenges that our
partners experience in measuring internet censorship in their countries and
regions, and we gained a deeper understanding of our partners’ needs. This
insight will help with informing the improvement of OONI tools, as well as
with informing opportunities for collaboration, shared strategies, and
future goals.
* *Collection of partner feedback.* OONI tools and methods have always been
informed by community feedback. Based on the documentation of partner
feedback, we will improve upon our tools, methodologies, and dataset to
better meet the needs of our community. We may also create new tools based
on partner feedback to support censorship measurement efforts.
* *Increased partner ability to lead censorship measurement efforts in
their countries/regions. *Through skillshares and knowledge-shares at the
event, our partners gained an improved understanding of how to use OONI
tools and data. This will support their community engagement activities,
expanding OONI censorship measurement coverage and the documentation of
censorship events. As an outcome of their participation at the OONI Partner
Gathering 2024, we expect to see our partners make greater use of OONI
tools and data in support of their research and advocacy efforts.
* *Strengthened partnerships.* This was the first time that we met many of
our partners in person, as the COVID-19 pandemic over the last years had
reduced this opportunity. As a result of sharing knowledge, skills, and
meals together, we now have stronger partnerships. The challenges and needs
(as identified through sessions facilitated at the OONI Partner Gathering)
will inform (many of) the goals and priorities of OONI partnerships moving
forward.
* *New partnerships.* We strategically invited a few (regional)
organizations to the OONI Partner Gathering with whom we hadn’t established
a partnership (yet), but with whom we hoped to formalize a partnership
given our mission alignment and the impact of their work. One of these
organizations was Indonesia’s SAFEnet (who are known for having
successfully litigated and advocated against the 2019 Internet shutdown in
Indonesia), with whom we established a partnership in July 2024. We are
also currently in the process of discussing and formalizing partnerships
with prominent digital rights organizations in Central Asia. Moreover, our
partners had the opportunity to learn from each other during the event and
to explore opportunities for new collaborations between them.
As a result of the above, we expect to see increased use of OONI tools and
data in support of research and advocacy efforts aimed at monitoring and
responding to censorship events in Asia and the Middle East over the next
few years.
At the Closing Ceremony of the event, all participants received a
certificate for their participation at the OONI Partner Gathering 2024.
Following the OONI Partner Gathering 2024, we shared a survey with all
participants to collect their feedback on the event and to learn how we can
improve future events. As part of this survey, we collected very positive
feedback and participants provided a very positive evaluation of the event.
Further details are available through our OONI Partner Gathering 2024
Report: https://ooni.org/post/2024-ooni-partner-gathering-report/
We thank all participants who took time out of their busy schedules to fly
across the world to join us in Kuala Lumpur for the OONI Partner Gathering
2024. Thanks to their invaluable feedback and participation, they made the
event an unforgettable experience for us all.
We also thank the Ford Foundation and Luminate for supporting the OONI
Partner Gathering 2024, believing in our mission, and making this event
possible!
*## OONI Team Meeting 2024 in Malaysia*
Following the OONI Partner Gathering 2024 (which brought together the whole
OONI team), we hosted an OONI Team Meeting Day on 10th May 2024 in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia.
As part of this meeting, we discussed OONI’s strategy, roles and
responsibilities within the team, and we improved upon our roadmaps.
Specifically, the OONI Team Meeting Day included the following sessions:
* OONI Strategy
* Roles, responsibilities, and decision making within the OONI team (Part 1)
* Roles, responsibilities, and decision making within the OONI team (Part 2)
* Presenting Thematic Censorship Findings on OONI Explorer and Revamping
the OONI Explorer Navigation
* VPN measurement update from OTF Information Controls Fellow
* Roadmap updates (Part 1)
* Roadmap updates (Part 2)
As an outcome, we improved our roadmaps, we had important strategic
discussions in person, and we discussed the next steps for some of our core
projects.
*## Published new report on the OONI Censorship Findings page*
In May 2024, we published a report documenting the blocking of Grindr in
Malaysia: https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/44213966401
OONI data suggests that Malaysia started blocking access to Grindr – the
world’s largest social networking app for gay, bi, trans, and queer people
– on 17th April 2024. Recent OONI data suggests that the block remains
ongoing.
*## Research collaborations with partners on upcoming reports*
We continued to coordinate with our partners on research efforts required
for upcoming research reports. Specifically, we coordinated with our
partners on extensive updates to the Citizen Lab test lists for Bangladesh
and Iran.
In May 2024, the updates for the test lists of Bangladesh and Iran were
finalized. Specifically:
* Digitally Right updated the test list for Bangladesh:
https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1733
* Miaan Group contributed more updates to the test list for Iran:
https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1726
*## OONI Probe Mobile*
We released News Media Scan v3.8.7:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/549
Notably, this release includes localization support for French, German,
Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish.
*## OONI Probe Desktop*
In May 2024, we released OONI Probe Desktop 3.9.6:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/releases/tag/v3.9.6
The latest version makes use of OONI Probe CLI v.3.22.0.
*## OONI Probe CLI*
In May 2024, we released OONI Probe CLI 3.22:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/releases/tag/v3.22.0
We documented the interaction between OONI Probe and the “probe services”
(i.e., the OONI backend APIs providing services to OONI Probe). As part of
this work, we also seized the opportunity to simplify and rationalize the
code: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2700
We refactored the algorithm used by OONI Probe to communicate with possibly
blocked probe services to prioritize the DNS results over the bridge
strategy and previous knowledge about existing working strategies:
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2704
*## OONI Run*
Throughout May 2024, we focused on delivering OONI Run v2 support for the
Deutsche Welle News Media Scan application (
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2733) Adding this functionality to
their application will enable Deutsche Welle to independently maintain and
update lists of URLs they wish to test. We focused on adding the specific
functionality they required to do so, as well as on bug fixing and testing.
With regards to the OONI Run v2 implementation in OONI Probe Mobile, we
continued our efforts to test and fix bugs. In May 2024, we fixed the
following bugs: https://github.com/ooni/run/issues/161,
https://github.com/ooni/run/issues/165,
https://github.com/ooni/run/issues/147,
https://github.com/ooni/run/issues/151
*## OONI Explorer*
In May 2024, we continued our efforts to update our design system to
TailWindCSS (https://github.com/ooni/design-system/issues/174) by updating
components to use the new framework (
https://github.com/ooni/design-system/pull/170) We also continued our
efforts to ensure that the OONI Explorer Country pages matched recently
re-designed components (https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/915,
https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/914)
Based on community feedback collected as part of our previous user research
studies, we concluded that the new thematic censorship findings pages on
OONI Explorer will focus on the following themes:
* News Media: https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/940
* Social Media: https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/939
* Circumvention: https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/941
Community feedback also informed the ways through which information can be
presented on each of these thematic pages, as well as which information to
prioritize.
While in Kuala Lumpur, we held a session during the OONI Team Day (10th May
2024) to further discuss our plans for both our projects on “Presenting
Thematic Censorship Findings on OONI Explorer” and “Revamping the OONI
Explorer Navigation”. We reviewed the mockups that had been made and we
discussed the next steps.
We have created the following issues to track this work:
https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/938https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/940https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/941https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/939
We also added simple event tracking (
https://github.com/ooni/explorer/pull/942) to the existing navigation bar
so that we can better understand the top-visited pages on OONI Explorer. We
will compare the data to the new navigation bar, once it is launched.
*## General backend work *
In May 2024, we:
* Worked on porting the oonifindings API over to our new API pattern (
https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/814)
* Worked on refactoring the oonimeasurements service (
https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/851)
* Tried out a few devops PoCs to improve our devops processes (
https://github.com/ooni/devops/pull/59)
*## Automating censorship detection and characterization based on OONI
measurements*
To help boost the performance of the new data processing pipeline, we
started working on optimizing the performance of table writers and
refactoring the table model: https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/72
Notably, we had the opportunity to present and share our new data analysis
methods (for automating the detection and characterization of censorship)
with our global network of partners and with experts from the internet
measurement community.
On 8th and 9th May 2024, we hosted the OONI Partner Gathering: a 2-day
event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which brought OONI partners together to
exchange skills and knowledge on internet censorship research and advocacy.
During this event, we facilitated a session (“OONI data analysis deep
dive”), as part of which we presented the OONI pipeline v5 (
https://github.com/ooni/data) and shared details of our methodological
improvements for automating the detection and characterization of internet
censorship based on OONI data. This enabled us to collect feedback from our
partner network and to discuss how this could be useful to research and
advocacy groups in highly censored environments (once the new pipeline is
shipped into production).
*## Community use of OONI data### Access Now’s #KeepItOn 2023 Report*
In May 2024, Access Now published their annual 2023 #KeepItOn Report on
Internet shutdowns around the world, which is available here:
https://www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2023-KIO-Report.pdf
Many OONI reports from our Censorship Findings platform (
https://explorer.ooni.org/findings) as well as OONI research reports (
https://ooni.org/reports/) and OONI Explorer measurements (
https://explorer.ooni.org/) were cited quite extensively as part of Access
Now’s (annual) #KeepItOn Report on Internet shutdowns in 2023.
*## Community activities### iMAP Regional Partners Meeting in Malaysia*
On 6th and 7th May 2024 (prior to the OONI Partner Gathering 2024), OONI’s
Maria, Arturo, and Elizaveta participated in the iMAP Regional Partners
Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (https://imap.sinarproject.org/) This
event was organized and hosted by our partner, Sinar Project, who lead
censorship measurement efforts in Southeast Asia.
As part of our participation, we attended sessions that involved
discussions on iMAP research reports (https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports)
as well as on metadata collection for test list updates.
*### Cross-Regional Convening of Digital Rights Activists in Malaysia*
On 7th May 2024, OONI’s Elizaveta attended the Cross-Regional Convening of
Digital Rights Activists of Central Asia and Southeast Asia that was
organized by Internews in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
As part of this event, Elizaveta facilitated a session on documenting and
researching internet censorship in Central Asia through the use of OONI
tools and data.
*### Countering Digital Threats to Democracy conference in Kenya*
On 21st-22nd May 2024, OONI’s Elizaveta traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, to
participate in the “Countering Digital Threats to Democracy” conference
organized by USAID (https://events.pneumaav.com/USAID)
As part of the event, Elizaveta presented OONI’s tools and work on
documenting and investigating internet censorship in African countries.
*### OONI workshop in Tanzania by community member*
On 24th May 2024, our community member, Loveness Muhagazi (Digital Safety
Consultant and author of the #Kiganjajanja online campaign) hosted an OONI
training session for human rights defenders, civil society organizations
and journalists in Tanzania.
*### OONI Community Meeting*
On 28th May 2024, we hosted the monthly OONI Community Meeting on our Slack
channel (https://slack.ooni.org/)
As part of this meeting, we discussed the following topics:
1) OONI Explorer user research: Does anyone have more feedback?
2) New OONI data processing pipeline v5: Testing and next steps for rolling
it out in production
3) A new approach to characterize network blocking with decision trees
(with an example in Russia)
4) Using soax.com for remote measurements
*## Measurement coverage*
In May 2024, 58,639,174 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 2,851
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> *
Hello,
Apologies for the delay in sharing OONI's previous monthly reports, and for
the many upcoming reports.
This email shares OONI's monthly report for April 2024.
*# OONI Monthly Report: April 2024*
Throughout April 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 research report on internet censorship in Tanzania*
In April 2024, we published a new research report (“Tanzania: Surge in
online LGBTIQ censorship and other targeted blocks”), documenting the
blocking of LGBTIQ websites and other targeted blocks in Tanzania based on
the analysis of OONI data. Thanks to community member Tori Francis, who
translated the report, we also published it in Swahili to reach local
communities.
Our research report is available in:
* English:
https://ooni.org/post/2024-tanzania-lgbtiq-censorship-and-other-targeted-bl…
* Swahili:
https://ooni.org/sw/post/2024-tanzania-lgbtiq-censorship-and-other-targeted…
As part of this report, we analyzed OONI data collected from Tanzania
between 1st January 2023 to 31st January 2024. Our analysis of OONI data
collected from Tanzania shows:
* *Blocking of many LGBTIQ websites*, including LGBTIQ social networks
(such as Grindr), LGBTIQ rights sites (such as OutRight International and
ILGA), LGBTIQ news and culture sites (such as Queerty), and a LGBTIQ
suicide prevention site (The Trevor Project);
* *Blocking of online dating websites* (such as Tinder and OKCupid);
* *Targeted blocking of specific websites that defend human rights through
grants and petitions* (Change.org, Global Fund for Women, GlobalGiving,
Open Society Foundations);
* *Targeted blocking of specific social networking sites* (Clubhouse and
4chan);
* *Targeted blocking of ProtonVPN*.
Our analysis reveals the extensive blocking of LGBTIQ sites, which
correlates with the escalating discrimination and crackdown on LGBTIQ
communities in Tanzania in recent years. Many other blocks identified as
part of this study appear to be targeted, as they involve very specific
websites, while other sites from the same categories (e.g. social media,
human rights) were found accessible. For example, access to the Global Fund
for Women website was found blocked in Tanzania, while Amnesty
International's website was found accessible. Meanwhile, Tanzania recently
started requiring users to report their use of VPNs. Out of tested VPNs, we
only found ProtonVPN blocked in Tanzania during the analysis period.
Overall, the results of our analysis show that most ISPs in Tanzania appear
to implement blocks by means of TLS interference, specifically by timing
out the session after the Client Hello message during the TLS handshake. As
the timing of the blocks and the types of URLs blocked are (mostly)
consistent across (tested) networks, ISPs in Tanzania likely implement
blocks in a coordinated manner (possibly through the use of Deep Packet
Inspection technology).
*## Published new reports on the OONI Censorship Findings page*
In April 2024, we published 2 new reports on our Censorship Findings page:
* Kyrgyzstan blocked TikTok: https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/154621229001
* Senegal blocked TikTok: https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/144156914701
These reports were published in response to emergent censorship events,
sharing relevant OONI data. Access to TikTok was temporarily blocked in
Senegal amid political unrest, while access to TikTok was blocked in
Kyrgyzstan following a government order to ban the platform.
*## Research collaborations with partners on upcoming reports*
We continued to coordinate with our partners on research efforts required
for upcoming research reports. Specifically, we coordinated with our
partners on extensive updates to the Citizen Lab test lists for Bangladesh
and Iran.
In April 2024, Miaan Group contributed extensive updates to the test list
for Iran: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1702
*## OONI Probe Mobile*
In April 2024, we released OONI Probe 3.8.6 on Android (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/releases/tag/v3.8.6) and iOS (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/releases/tag/v3.8.6)
This release includes a fix for the OONI Probe Signal experiment, as well
as several other bug fixes and improvements.
*## OONI Probe Desktop*
In April 2024, we released OONI Probe Desktop 3.9.5:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/releases/tag/v3.9.5
This release contained a fix that prevents the app from being disabled on
Windows and uses OONI Probe CLI v3.21.0 (
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2699)
*## OONI Probe CLI*
We rationalized, documented, refactored, and improved the code used to
communicate with the OONI backend: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2700
As part of this work, we improved the code used for circumventing the
blocking of the OONI backend, documented its design, and planned for future
improvements: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2704
*## OONI Run*
As part of our work on creating the next generation version of OONI Run
(“OONI Run v2”), we continued our efforts with QA testing for the Android
version of the new OONI Probe app that will include both an improved UI and
support for new OONI Run links. We spent time polishing the new flow that
users will go through when adding OONI Run v2 links to their app dashboard,
as well as ensuring that updating and removing links works as planned. You
can explore related issues here: https://github.com/ooni/run/issues
Additionally, we continued to test and fine-tune the admin dashboard that
users will use to create, edit and manage their OONI Run v2 links.
*## Documented OONI methodology for measuring throttling *
In April 2024, we published documentation for our methodology on measuring
throttling: https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1546/files
In previous months, we created an open methodology for measuring
throttling. In line with our broader scope of work (which focuses on
targeted cases of internet censorship), this methodology aims to detect
cases of targeted throttling that impact specific online services (such as
the throttling of Twitter/X). As part of this methodology, we measure cases
of targeted throttling through the analysis of OONI Web Connectivity data
(which is collected through the OONI Probe testing of URLs).
Specifically, OONI’s methodology for measuring targeted cases of throttling
involves the analysis of timing information during HTTPS requests in Web
Connectivity data. This methodology has been successful in measuring
various cases of throttling, such as those documented as part of our
previous research reports on throttling cases in Kazakhstan (
https://ooni.org/post/2023-throttling-kz-elections/#throttling-of-sites)
Russia (
https://ooni.org/post/2022-russia-blocks-amid-ru-ua-conflict/#twitter-throt…)
and Turkey (https://ooni.org/post/2023-turkey-throttling-blocking-twitter/)
Our throttling methodology is also explained in these reports.
*## OONI Explorer### User research*
Last month, we mentioned that we started user interviews with members of
our community who use OONI Explorer (https://explorer.ooni.org/) as part of
research and advocacy. The goal of these interviews was to supplement the
qualitative data collected through the surveys, and to better understand
how they use OONI Explorer and the challenges they encounter in discovering
censorship findings through the platform.
In April 2024, we completed these interviews and distilled the information
and insights gathered to help us inform the next phase of several projects
we have on the go.
To collect community feedback for the improvement of the OONI Explorer
navigation, we also did a user study (
https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1778016715940536698) Our goal
through this study (
https://s900pyof.optimalworkshop.com/optimalsort/33tdoyag) was to collect
community feedback on how to improve the structure of content on OONI
Explorer and make it easier to navigate.
All of these efforts are helping us make progress on two important projects:
* Presenting thematic censorship findings on OONI Explorer
* Revamping the OONI Explorer navigation
*### Presenting thematic censorship findings on OONI Explorer *
Based on community feedback collected as part of our user research studies,
we worked with a designer on creating wireframes and mockups of potential
ways to present thematic censorship findings on OONI Explorer (
https://explorer.ooni.org/) In addition to enabling the internet freedom
community to easily and quickly discover censorship findings that they care
about, we aim to also ensure that information is presented in a logical
fashion, building a stronger connection between the various pages and
sections on OONI Explorer.
*### Revamping the OONI Explorer navigation*
Adding another section like the Thematic Censorship pages to OONI Explorer
will require us to consider the navigation menu of the site. As is, the
OONI Explorer menu is fairly crowded, and we want to ensure that we can
continue to grow and expand the navigation as we grow the functionality
within OONI Explorer. Based on community feedback collected as part of a
user study on OONI Explorer navigation (
https://s900pyof.optimalworkshop.com/optimalsort/33tdoyag) we completed
some wireframes of different options for the navigation and had several
brainstorming sessions to discuss.
*### Other improvements *
On the development side, we began the work to update a few sections of the
OONI Explorer country pages that had previously been redesigned (
https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/916,
https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/914) We fixed an issue with our
language drop-down menu for people using Brave browser (
https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/931) We also continued our work
using Tailwind for our design library (
https://github.com/ooni/design-system/pull/175)
*## Automating censorship detection and characterization based on OONI
measurements*
In April 2024, we continued to make progress towards shipping our new OONI
Data Pipeline into production.
Specifically, to improve maintainability going forward, we refactored OONI
data into two separate packages (https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/60)
* End user pip installable package to download and parse measurements;
* Pipeline to perform the analysis and processing of OONI data.
We also ported analysis and observation generation over to temporal and set
up the production environment in the OONI devops repository (
https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/61)
*## General backend/devops *
In April 2024, we worked on porting the oonifindings service to our new and
improved ooniapi pattern (https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/807) We
also experimented with some proof of concepts to improve our devops
processes, such as re-conceptualizing codepipeline triggers, and trying
weighted target groups and scheduled blue/green deployment.
*## Test list updates*
Following the announcement of the suspension of the broadcasting of
programs from several news media outlets in Burkina Faso (
https://x.com/sergedanielinfo/status/1784676862083399728) we created a new
test list for Burkina Faso with those news media websites:
https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1714
We also added a few news media websites to the Togo test list:
https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1715
*## Planning the OONI Partner Gathering 2024*
In preparation for the upcoming OONI Partner Gathering in Malaysia in May
2024, we continued to coordinate on numerous logistics (flights, shuttle
service, hotel, catering, etc.). We also continued to assist participants
as needed with their travel logistics, and we continued to coordinate with
designers on event-related supplies and materials.
To help ensure that the OONI Partner Gathering 2024 agenda is as useful as
possible to our partners, we previously shared a survey to collect their
feedback. As our goal was to ensure that we create an agenda that is
valuable to all participants, we requested their feedback on the types of
sessions that they would find most useful, the types of skills and
knowledge that they would like to learn, and the outcomes that would make
their participation feel well spent. We also asked participants to propose
sessions that they would like to facilitate at the event.
Based on the analysis of partner feedback, we created the final agenda
based on the most pressing needs, interests, and requests identified in
most survey responses, while taking into account the diversity in
participant backgrounds. We also coordinated with partners who expressed
interest (through our survey) in facilitating sessions to include their
proposed sessions in the final agenda.
In April 2024 (several weeks in advance to the event), we shared the final
Agenda with all OONI Partner Gathering participants. The detailed Agenda of
the OONI Partner Gathering 2024 is available here:
https://ooni.org/documents/OONI-Partner-Gathering-Agenda.pdf
We also created an additional, internal, and more detailed agenda for our
team to enable coordination and the management of logistics during the
event.
Prior to the event, we prepared and shared the following with participants:
* Code of Conduct:
https://ooni.org/documents/Information-Package-CoC-Privacy-Policy.pdf
* Communication Guidelines:
https://ooni.org/documents/Information-Package-Communication-Tips.pdf
* Privacy Policy
* OONI Partner Gathering Information Package (providing detailed
information about the event, logistical details, and answers to Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ) about the event)
* Facilitation guidelines (shared with all OONI Partner Gathering
facilitators)
* Participant list document
* COVID-19 Safety Guidelines
* Emergency Information document
Moreover, in preparation for the OONI Partner Gathering 2024, we:
* Created a dedicated OONI Partner Gathering 2024 mailing list;
* Created a dedicated OONI Partner Gathering 2024 Signal group;
* Created documents for note-taking during the OONI Partner Gathering
sessions;
* Created slides for various OONI Partner Gathering sessions;
* Created certificates for each of the participants;
* Ordered OONI t-shirts, banners, stickers, flyers, tote bags, and lanyards
for the event;
* Ordered COVID-19 masks, tests, and hand sanitizers for the event.
*## Rapid response### Blocking of TikTok in Kyrgyzstan*
In response to the blocking of TikTok in Kyrgyzstan, we shared relevant
OONI data and information on Twitter/X:
https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1782005308342055256
We subsequently published a report on our Censorship Findings page,
providing further information on the blocking of TikTok in Kyrgyzstan:
https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/154621229001
*## Community use of OONI data### Report on the blocking of Grindr in
Malaysia*
Our partner, Sinar Project, published a report documenting the blocking of
Grindr in Malaysia based on OONI data:
https://imap.sinarproject.org/news/internet-censorship-update-blocking-of-g…
They also encouraged OONI Probe testing of Grindr in Malaysia on Twitter/X:
https://twitter.com/sinarproject/status/1781287369213395291
*## Community activities### DRL Implementers Meeting 2024*
Between 1st-4th April 2024, OONI’s Arturo and Jessie traveled to Washington
D.C to attend the DRL Implementers Meeting 2024.
As part of their participation, they facilitated sessions about community
organization and governance, and communicating security risks to users.
*### OONI training by Zaina Foundation for researchers in Tanzania*
On 4th April 2024, our partner, Zaina Foundation (
https://ooni.org/partners/zaina-foundation/) facilitated an OONI training
for researchers in Tanzania (
https://x.com/ZainaFoundation/status/1776243051339350226)
OONI’s Elizaveta joined the training through remote/online participation,
provided a live demo of using OONI Explorer, and addressed the questions of
the participants.
*### Digital Rights & Inclusion Forum (DRIF) 2024*
Between 23rd-25th April 2024, OONI’s Elizaveta traveled to Accra, Ghana, to
participate in the Digital Rights & Inclusion Forum (DRIF) 2024.
As part of her participation, Elizaveta facilitated a session on
strengthening community response to internet censorship (
https://drif.paradigmhq.org/agenda/) While in Accra, Elizaveta also shared
OONI’s work as part of a TV interview with Pan African TV:
https://www.facebook.com/PANAFRICANTV/videos/979923349677358
*## Measurement coverage*
In April 2024, 57,990,058 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 2,887
networks in 167 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> *
Hi everyone,
This week OONI published two short reports on blockings in Indonesia and Türkiye:
(1) On 29th July, DuckDuckGo search engine was blocked on at least four networks in Indonesia. The block appears to be implemented by the means of DNS tampering, with some measurements resulting in IPs hosting block pages <https://ooni.org/support/glossary#block-page>, which clearly communicate that access is intentionally blocked.
Read the full report here: https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/282511010901 <https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/45013413801>
(2) Today, on 2nd August, Instagram was blocked on at least six networks in Türkiye and `www.instagram.com` domain was added to the BTK (Bilgi Teknolojileri ve İletişim Kurumu) public registry <https://internet.btk.gov.tr/sitesorgu/>.
Read the full report here: https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/330022197701
We thank OONI Probe users in Indonesia and Türkiye for contributing measurements!
~ OONI team.
