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OONI Monthly Report: January 2024
by Maria Xynou 15 Apr '24

15 Apr '24

Hello, This email shares OONI's monthly report for January 2024. *# OONI Monthly Report: January 2024* Throughout January 2024, the OONI team worked on the following sprints: * Sprint 108 (1st - 14th January 2024) * Sprint 109 (15th - 28th January 2024) Our work can be tracked through the various OONI GitHub repositories: https://github.com/ooni Highlights are shared in this report below. *## Published report on news media censorship in Bangladesh during 2024 elections* In January 2024, we published a short report documenting the blocking of news media websites in Bangladesh (based on OONI data) amid the country’s 2024 general elections. The report is available here: https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/11686385001 *## OONI Probe Mobile* We released OONI Probe Mobile 3.8.6 on Android: https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/releases/tag/v3.8.6 This release includes an important fix for the data quality of the Signal Private Messenger App experiment (https://ooni.org/nettest/signal) results. It also ensures that the measurement engine is synced with OONI Probe CLI v3.20.0, and it includes several bug fixes and improvements. *## OONI Run* As part of our work on creating the next generation version of OONI Run (“OONI Run v2”), there were several key activities we undertook this month. Specifically, we continued to work towards achieving a ‘feature complete’ status for the Android application so that we can begin end-to-end testing. This included focusing on finishing the initial implementation of the add link flow, including addressing some feedback from early testing ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2595). We worked on implementing the dashboard link loading and we reviewed the updates ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2594), and we continued to work on the dashboard (https://github.com/ooni/run/pull/131), which is now ready for testing. Additionally, we enumerated the remaining backend work we need to complete as part of this project ( https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/1519). *## OONI Probe CLI* Most of the development work in January 2024 was focused on bringing Web Connectivity v0.5 to production (as documented in the next section below). In addition to this work, we reworked the output of the DNS Ping experiment to make it more actionable (https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1444) by taking into account specific feedback provided by community members. We also increased the robustness of the internal libtor package to prevent concurrent tor instances, which would lead to a crash because libtor uses several shared, unlocked, global data structures ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1445). This issue emerged while debugging Tor Snowflake experiment crashes ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2406). While addressing this issue is not enough to prevent crashes (given that we were not running libtor concurrently anyway), we tried to structurally prevent this from happening directly inside the libtor codebase. *## Creating a methodology for measuring throttling * To measure throttling more effectively, we need to ship Web Connectivity v0.5, which is based on an underlying measurement library specifically designed to collect additional throttling-related information and, more generally, easier-to-process measurements. To this end, in the previous month we ensured that Web Connectivity v0.5 produced the same results as version v0.4 (the one currently running in production) for all test cases in our QA suite. In January 2024, we continued this work by fixing additional data quality issues affecting Web Connectivity v0.4 and v0.5 so that when we release Web Connectivity v0.5, we are sure there are hopefully no regressions and only improvements. Specifically, we: * Ensured that the data analysis engine used by Web Connectivity v0.5 behaves correctly and detects multiple cases of blocking ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2640). While the overall result of the experiment uses a logic that is still compatible with v0.4, the result also contains flags indicating all the anomalies observed. For example, as part of the same measurement, OONI could detect both DNS and TLS interference. * Enumerated and fixed a number of edge cases where otherwise the measurement result would have been inaccurate, including cases where (a) a domain does not exist anymore but there’s still DNS censorship returning the IP address where a blockpage is hosted and (b) domains for which there are no A or AAAA records, which are now correctly recognized as not accessible and not blocked (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2652). * Handled more cases where a website is not TCP or TLS reachable, which are now marked as not accessible, not blocked ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2299). * Ensured that IDNA (Internationalized Domain Names) are handled correctly by adding test cases and fixes (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1925). * Added test cases to avoid flagging TCP blocking when IPv6 is available but there are no IPv6 routes (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2456). * Ensured that cases where a website address is a loopback address (due to censorship or misconfiguration) are handled correctly ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1517). * Ensured that v0.5 does not include cached DNS responses to avoid confusing pipelines processing OONI data ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1530). * Fixed a bug where v0.5 was not able to correctly process URLs containing IPv4 or IPv6 addresses (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1511). In addition to the code and test case changes described above, we also verified ~40 data quality issues and we started sketching out fixes for other outstanding issues. All the data quality issues that we vetted and closed in January 2024 can be found here: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues?q=is%3Aissue+label%3A2024-01-data-qual… *## OONI Explorer* In January 2024, we worked on updating dependencies for OONI Explorer ( https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/901), and we started working towards building design system components ( https://github.com/ooni/design-system/issues/168). We also started working towards presenting thematic censorship findings on OONI Explorer through brainstorming sessions to discuss the potential scope of work and agree on next steps. *## OONI Backend* We made significant progress on coming up with a plan about the future of OONI infrastructure. Specifically, we started exploring several solutions for having a better pattern for deploying frontend and server-side components. As part of this work, we carried out an internal survey with our development team. After experimenting with several different solutions, we concluded that it’s probably ideal to go for an approach which can be adopted iteratively and that connects well with the existing patterns. We will therefore have a system for defining our infrastructure as code and start using (where it makes sense) more cloud infrastructure ( https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/785). We also started making a big refactor of backend components to make it easier to deploy our OONI data analysis tool (https://github.com/ooni/data) as part of the OONI backend (https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/791). *## Test list updates* Throughout January 2024, we coordinated with community members on updating the Citizen Lab test lists and we reviewed many pull requests. These include: * Updates to the Bangladesh test list ahead of the country’s January 2024 general elections (https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1544, https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1543, https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1531); * Updates to the Indonesian test list ( https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1527); * Updates to the Japanese and Global test lists ( https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1504, https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1511); * Updates to the Philippines test list ( https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1461, https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1559); * Updates to the Senegalese test list ( https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1600, https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1602); * Updates to the Thai test list ( https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1521). *## Research collaborations with partners on upcoming reports* In January 2024, we coordinated with the Tor Project on signing Fixed Award Agreements (FAAs) with 4 of our local partners to financially support their contributions to upcoming research reports (as part of a DRL grant). This officially initiated the research collaborations, and we started collaborating with our partners on several research reports. Specifically, we started this research process by finalizing the research scope for each of the upcoming reports, and collaborating with our partners on updating the Citizen Lab test lists for Russia, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, and Iran. Each of these test list updates has a thematic focus based on the specific research questions of each (upcoming) research report. *## Planning the OONI Partner Gathering 2024* We are excited to share that on 8th and 9th May 2024, we will host an in-person OONI Partner Gathering in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. As part of this 2-day event, we will bring our partners (primarily from Asia and the Middle East) together to share skills and knowledge on internet censorship research. The goal of the event is to strengthen regional and global collaboration on censorship measurement research and advocacy. To host this event, we had previously (in 2023) carried out all the necessary fundraising and logistical planning work. As we were not able to reach the target overall budget that would have allowed us to bring all our partners from around the world, we decided to limit the scope of the event primarily to our partners from Asia and the Middle East (while also inviting some of our international partners, whose work is relevant/important to our regional partners). We decided this because countries in Asia and the Middle East experience the most pervasive forms of internet censorship (and we therefore prioritized these regions over other regions which experience less internet censorship). In an effort to ensure that the OONI Partner Gathering is hosted in a location that is as visa-friendly as possible for our participants, we developed a script which identifies such locations based on various parameters, such as visa requirements, safety index, and flight travel time (https://github.com/hellais/global-gather). Based on this data-driven approach, Malaysia was identified as one of the top visa-free countries in the world for our specific list of participants. This was another reason why we decided to limit the event primarily to our partners from Asia. That said, we hope to host additional OONI Partner Gathering events for our partners in Africa and Latin America over the next few years. In January 2024, we sent official invitations (along with a Concept Note) to our partners from Asia (Southeast Asia, South Asia, East Asia, Central Asia), the Middle East, and to some of our international partners. We also started coordinating with a travel agency on the booking of flights, with the hotel on the booking of rooms and meeting spaces, and on a number of other logistics. We expect to welcome 46 participants at the OONI Partner Gathering in May 2024. *## OONI workshops and presentations### OONI training for Digital Rights Foundation Pakistan* On 12th January 2024, OONI’s Elizaveta hosted an online OONI workshop for Pakistan’s Digital Rights Foundation (https://digitalrightsfoundation.pk/), training their team members on how to use OONI tools in preparation for Pakistan’s upcoming 2024 elections. The goal of this training was to enable Digital Rights Foundation to train local journalists on how to use OONI tools to measure and monitor censorship events. *### OONI Q&A for BebasID Indonesia * On 12th January 2024, OONI’s Elizaveta and Simone hosted an online OONI Q&A session with the BebasID community in Indonesia (https://bebasid.com/). As part of this session, we answered questions regarding the use of OONI tools, we collected community feedback, and we discussed the current state of internet censorship in Indonesia with the BebasID community. *### OONI training for human rights advocates in Senegal * Between 16th-18th January 2024, OONI’s Elizaveta co-hosted a 3-day hybrid training for human rights advocates in Dakar, Senegal. We organized this training in collaboration with our local partners, Computech ( https://computechinstitute.com/) and Jonction ( https://jonction.e-monsite.com/), and the event was possible thanks to support from Access Now. The goal of the training was to share OONI skills and knowledge that would enable Senegalese human rights advocates and trainers to run OONI workshops for their communities in 5 different regions of Senegal. As part of this training, Elizaveta facilitated the following sessions: * Introduction to Internet Censorship * Using OONI Probe and OONI Run: Hands-on workshop * Updating the Senegalese test list: Hands-on workshop * Using OONI Explorer: Hands-on workshop As part of this training, the participants created the programmes for their own training and scheduled them for January and February 2024. Overall, the goal was to enable local Senegalese trainers and human rights defenders to lead and facilitate OONI censorship measurement workshops in their communities in preparation for the country’s 2024 elections. *### OONI presentation at IAB Workshop on Barriers to Internet Access of Services (BIAS)* On 17th January 2024, OONI’s Simone presented our research report on how internet censorship in Russia changed during the first year of military conflict in Ukraine ( https://ooni.org/post/2023-russia-a-year-after-the-conflict/) as part of the IAB Workshop on Barriers to Internet Access of Services (BIAS), 2024 ( https://datatracker.ietf.org/group/biasws/about/). The presentation is available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/rz2qkRfaNVE?si=i33_45UTX96Vs21z&t=3404 *## Activities by the OONI community### OONI workshop by Digital Rights Foundation for journalists in Pakistan * In January 2024, our partner, Digital Rights Foundation ( https://digitalrightsfoundation.pk/), facilitated two workshops for 60 journalists in Pakistan in preparation for the country’s 2024 elections. As part of this workshop, Digital Rights Foundation introduced participants to OONI tools and encouraged them to run OONI Probe tests leading up to the election. As part of their 2024 election monitoring efforts, Pakistan’s Digital Rights Foundation encouraged the use of OONI Probe as part of their ElectionDesk resource: https://election2024.digitalrightsfoundation.pk/internet-shutdowns/ *### OONI training by Digital Rights Lab for journalists in Sudan * On 13th January 2024, our partner, Digital Rights Lab Sudan ( https://ooni.org/partners/drlab/), facilitated online OONI training sessions in Arabic for journalists in Sudan. As part of the training sessions, they introduced participants to OONI tools and internet measurement. *### OONI training by Computech and Jonction in Senegal * On 27th January 2024, our partners, Computech ( https://computechinstitute.com/) and Jonction ( https://jonction.e-monsite.com/), hosted an OONI training session in Saint Louis, Senegal. This training (run by local trainers) included hands-on workshops on using OONI Probe and OONI Run. *### OONI training by Advocacy Assembly fellow for human rights defenders in Sierra Leone * On 29th January 2024, the Center for Advocacy and Sustainable Empowerment hosted an in-person workshop in Bo, Sierra Leone, as part of the Advocacy Assembly Internet Shutdown Mentored Training Program ( https://advocacyassembly.org/en/news/236). As part of this workshop, they introduced participants to OONI tools. OONI’s Elizaveta joined this workshop for the online Q&A session to address participants’ questions in relation to OONI’s work and tools. *## OONI Community Meeting* On 30th January 2024, we hosted the monthly OONI Community Meeting on our Slack channel (https://slack.ooni.org/), during which we discussed the following topics: Preparing for elections in 2024: How to monitor and respond to censorship events Improving OONI Explorer: Request for community feedback on needs and challenges *## Measurement coverage* In January 2024, 64,404,108 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 3,028 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> *

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OONI Explorer Survey
by Maria Xynou 09 Apr '24

09 Apr '24

Hi friends, Are you interested in investigating internet censorship through open data? OONI Explorer (https://explorer.ooni.org/) is the world's largest open dataset on internet censorship, consisting of more than 2 billion network measurements contributed by the global OONI community. We're excited to learn about your experience with OONI Explorer so that we can improve it! Specifically, we're aiming to present thematic censorship findings on OONI Explorer, and we're eager to learn more about your needs, the challenges you have encountered, and the types of information that would be most beneficial to your work. To this end, we'd greatly appreciate it if you could *please take a few minutes to share your feedback with us through our survey*: https://forms.gle/tYv3pecJiUFfUfEh9 Please complete the survey by *24th March 2024*. Thanks so much for your time and feedback, we greatly appreciate it! Warm regards, Maria (on behalf of the OONI team).

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OONI Community Meeting: Tomorrow, 14:00 (UTC)
by Elizaveta Yachmeneva 25 Mar '24

25 Mar '24

Hi everyone! This is a reminder that the monthly OONI Community Meeting is taking place tomorrow. This time we will be talking about network measurements and circumvention! => Where? OONI Slack channel: https://slack.ooni.org/ <https://slack.ooni.org/> => When? Tuesday, 26th March 2024 at 14:00 UTC (for 1 hour) We will be joined by: * Ain Ghazal, Information Controls OTF Fellow with OONI * Cecylia Bocovich, Tor Project * Keith McManamen, Psiphon * Diwen Xue, PhD Student, University of Michigan, Censored Planet We would be also happy to hear any contributions from the community, and, as always we will have plenty of space for questions and live discussion. As always, the agenda for the upcoming meeting is in this pad, feel free to add your questions and contributions here: https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep <https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep> Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow in #ooni channel! Warmly, ~ Elizaveta

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OONI Community Meeting: 26th March 2024
by Elizaveta Yachmeneva 22 Mar '24

22 Mar '24

Hi everyone! This is an invitation to attend our monthly Community Meeting next Tuesday. This time we will be talking about network measurements and circumvention! => Where? OONI Slack channel: https://slack.ooni.org/ <https://slack.ooni.org/> => When? Tuesday, 26th March 2024 at 14:00 UTC (for 1 hour) We will be joined by: * Ain Ghazal, Information Controls OTF Fellow with OONI * Cecylia Bocovich, Tor Project * Keith McManamen, Psiphon We hope that people from the tech and research community who are working on measuring networks and/or circumvention technologies will join our discussion too. As always, the agenda for the upcoming meeting is in this pad, feel free to add your questions and contributions here: https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep <https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep> Looking forward to seeing you all next week! Warmly, ~ Elizaveta

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OONI Community Meeting: Tomorrow, 14:00 (UTC)
by Elizaveta Yachmeneva 26 Feb '24

26 Feb '24

Hi everyone, This is a reminder that the monthly OONI Community Meeting is taking place tomorrow. => Where? OONI Slack channel: https://slack.ooni.org/ <https://slack.ooni.org/> (bridged with IRC: ircs://irc.oftc.net:6697/#ooni <ircs://irc.oftc.net:6697/#ooni>) => When? Tuesday, 27th February 2024 at 14:00 UTC (for 1 hour) We will be talking about litigation against internet censorship and shutdowns! We invited four amazing experts to share their knowledge and experience in handling local and regional litigation cases: * Natalia Krapiva, Tech-Legal Counsel, Access Now <https://www.accessnow.org/> * Toby Mendel, Executive Director of the Centre for Law and Democracy <https://www.law-democracy.org/> * Yelzhan Kabyshev, Director, Internet Freedom Kazakhstan (IFKZ) <https://ifkz.org/> * Unguul Sagena, Head of Internet Access Division, Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet) <https://safenet.or.id/> We would be also happy to hear any contributions from the community, and, as always we will have plenty of space for questions and live discussion. The agenda for the upcoming meeting is in this pad, please feel free to contribute: https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep <https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep> Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow, ~ Elizaveta

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OONI Community Meeting: 27th February 2024
by Elizaveta Yachmeneva 22 Feb '24

22 Feb '24

Hi everyone! This is an invitation to attend our monthly Community Meeting next Tuesday. This time we will be talking about litigation against internet censorship and shutdowns! => Where? OONI Slack channel: https://slack.ooni.org/ <https://slack.ooni.org/> (bridged with IRC: ircs://irc.oftc.net:6697/#ooni) => When? Tuesday, 27th February 2024 at 14:00 UTC (for 1 hour) We invited some amazing people from Access Now, Centre for Law and Democracy, and Internet Freedom Kazakhstan to share their experiences and answer your questions. And of course, we will welcome any contributions from the community if you are willing to join and share. Please come prepared to share your cases if you have some, and please prepare questions for our dear guests. As always, the agenda is in this pad, please add the cases you would want to share and questions you would like to discuss: https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep <https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep> Looking forward to seeing you all next week! Warmly, ~ Elizaveta

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Report on blocks in Pakistan ahead of 2024 elections
by Maria Xynou 07 Feb '24

07 Feb '24

Hello, OONI just published a report on the *blocking of PTI political party websites* and on the *blocking of an investigative news platform in Pakistan* ahead of their 2024 general elections (which are tomorrow). You can read our *report* here: https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/108298926901 The blocks primarily appear to be implemented by means of TLS interference (though we also see some blocks implemented at the DNS level). The report shares relevant data. Huge thanks to the OONI community in Pakistan for contributing measurements! We wish you all the best in the next days with the elections. Best, Maria.

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Please update to OONI Probe Mobile 3.8.6
by Maria Xynou 02 Feb '24

02 Feb '24

Hi friends, The OONI team has released *OONI Probe Mobile 3.8.6* on Android, F-Droid, and iOS. Please *update* to the latest version: https://ooni.org/install/mobile The latest version (3.8.6) includes an *important fix* for the data quality of the *Signal Private Messenger App experiment* ( https://ooni.org/nettest/signal) results. Specifically, we have changed the tested endpoints in the Signal experiment so that the testing of the Signal app no longer leads to faulty measurements (though false positives can still occur). The latest version improves the quality of Signal measurements, thereby enabling you (and researchers around the world) to more accurately track the accessibility or blocking of the Signal app. We'd hugely appreciate it if you could please update to the latest OONI Probe Mobile 3.8.6 version ASAP. The fix is already available in OONI Probe CLI (https://ooni.org/install/cli). We aim to release the fix on OONI Probe Desktop soon too. We apologize for any inconvenience, and we thank you for your patience as we worked towards shipping this fix. We also thank you for your support and for continuing to contribute measurements! Best, OONI team.

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OONI Community Meeting: Tomorrow, 14:00 (UTC)
by Elizaveta Yachmeneva 29 Jan '24

29 Jan '24

Hi everyone, This is a reminder that the monthly OONI Community Meeting is taking place tomorrow. => Where? OONI Slack channel: https://slack.ooni.org/ <https://slack.ooni.org/> (bridged with IRC: ircs://irc.oftc.net:6697/#ooni <ircs://irc.oftc.net:6697/#ooni>) => When? Tuesday, 30th January 2024 at 14:00 UTC (for 1 hour) We will be talking about how to prepare to monitor internet censorship during elections. We invited people from five amazing organisations from Malaysia, Bangladesh, Senegal, Pakistan and Cambodia to share their experiences of monitoring the elections in the past months and preparing for elections in February 2024. Please join us for this discussion and contribute with your thoughts, knowledge and questions! As always, the agenda for the upcoming meeting is in this pad: https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep <https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep> Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow, ~ Elizaveta

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OONI Community Meeting: 30th January 2024
by Elizaveta Yachmeneva 25 Jan '24

25 Jan '24

Hi everyone, This is a kind reminder that OONI will host a monthly community meeting next Tuesday. => Where? OONI Slack channel: https://slack.ooni.org/ <https://slack.ooni.org/> (bridged with IRC: ircs://irc.oftc.net:6697/#ooni <ircs://irc.oftc.net:6697/#ooni>) => When? Tuesday, 30th January 2024 at 14:00 UTC (for 1 hour) This is the first meeting of this year, and we plan to discuss how to prepare to monitor internet censorship during elections. 2024 is a year of elections. We expect to monitor internet censorship during elections in more than 15 countries this year, and we are doing our best to prepare for this together with our partners. We strongly encourage everyone who is based in the countries with upcoming elections to join our discussion on Tuesday. We hope it would be very helpful both for us and for you to share questions, suggestions and plans. And if your elections have already passed, please come and share your experience of what worked well, or not so well. As always, the agenda for the upcoming meeting is in this pad: https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep <https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep> Please join us and contribute to the agenda with your questions, thoughts, projects and topics! All the best, ~ OONI team

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