Hi everyone!
This is a reminder that the monthly OONI Community Meeting is taking place tomorrow.
This time we won’t have any specific topic to discuss, so please add any questions about internet censorship or OONI tools to this pad:
https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep
Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow in #ooni channel!
=> Where? OONI Slack channel: https://slack.ooni.org/
=> When? Tuesday, 30th July 2024 at 14:00 UTC (for 1 hour)
Warmly,
~ Elizaveta
Hello,
We are excited to share that today 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 …
[View More]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! <3
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. <3
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.
Please help spread the word about the OONI Partner Gathering 2024:
https://x.com/OpenObservatory/status/1816423154639671385https://mastodon.social/@ooni/112846737573442433
Warm thanks,
OONI team.
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Hello,
As of 16th July 2024, OONI data suggests that Facebook has been inaccessible on at least two networks in Bangladesh.
The block appears to be implemented by the means of TLS interference.
Learn more through our latest report:
https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/45013413801
We thank OONI Probe users in Bangladesh for contributing measurements!
~ OONI team.
Hi everyone!
I am pleased to share that we published a new community interview with Tawanda Mugari, Co-Founder and Geek in Chief of the Digital Society of Africa (DSA) <https://digitalsociety.africa/>.
DSA is our amazing partner <https://ooni.org/partners/digital-society-of-africa/> who works in six Southern African countries: Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Eswatini and South Africa. DSA works to strengthen the resilience and abilities of frontline activists, human …
[View More]rights defenders and other at-risk groups in the region to independently recognise and respond to digital threats and attacks.
In the interview, Tawanda shares both organisational and personal experiences of preparing to and responding to internet shutdowns in multiple Southern African countries.
Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/upCtt49WFiQ
This interview is part of our “OONI Community Interviews” series, through which we highlight the important work of OONI community members, you can find more interviews on our YouTube channel <https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1sH9kYR-16nlPlFT-RDBs8O0OiS2N6fJ>.
We also published a blog post to share the interview and information about DSA's work:
https://ooni.org/post/2024-interview-with-tawanda-mugari/
Warmly,
Elizaveta
[View Less]
Hi everyone!
This is a reminder that the monthly OONI Community Meeting is taking place tomorrow.
This time we won’t have any specific topic to discuss, but we have some questions in the pad:
https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep
Please add your questions to the OONI team, or the community to the same pad.
Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow in #ooni channel!
=> Where? OONI Slack channel: https://slack.ooni.org/
=> When? Tuesday, 25th June 2024 at 14:00 UTC …
[View More](for 1 hour)
Warmly,
~ OONI Team
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Hello,
Today OONI published a new research report: "*Tanzania: Surge in online
LGBTIQ censorship and other targeted blocks*".
Read the report here:
https://ooni.org/post/2024-tanzania-lgbtiq-censorship-and-other-targeted-bl…
As part of this report, we analyzed OONI data collected from Tanzania over
the last year, between 1st January 2023 to 31st January 2024.
Our analysis of OONI data collected from Tanzania shows:
1) *Blocking of many LGBTIQ websites*, including:
* LGBTIQ social networks (…
[View More]such as Grindr)
* LGBTIQ rights sites (such as OutRight International and ILGA)
* LGBTIQ news and culture sites (such as Queerty)
* LGBTIQ suicide prevention site (The Trevor Project)
2) *Blocking of online dating websites* (such as Tinder and OKCupid)
3) *Blocking of specific websites that defend human rights through grants
and petitions* (Change.org, Global Fund for Women, GlobalGiving, Open
Society Foundations)
4) *Blocking of specific social networking sites* (Clubhouse and 4chan)
5) *Blocking of a specific VPN* (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.
We encourage researchers to explore whether the new VPN reporting
requirement results in reduced VPN use in Tanzania, as well as its impact
on LGBTIQ communities and other human rights movements in Tanzania.
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 ClientHello 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).
Learn more through our report:
https://ooni.org/post/2024-tanzania-lgbtiq-censorship-and-other-targeted-bl…
We thank OONI Probe (https://ooni.org/install/) users in Tanzania for
contributing measurements, supporting this study.
You can monitor internet censorship in Tanzania (and around the world)
through real-time OONI data:
https://explorer.ooni.org/chart/mat?probe_cc=TZ&since=2024-03-12&until=2024…
Thanks,
Maria.
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Hello,
As of 17th April 2024, OONI data shows that *Malaysia started blocking
access to Grindr*.
The block is automatically confirmed because the IP 175.139.142.25 is
returned as part of DNS resolution.
Learn more through our latest report:
https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/44213966401
Thanks,
Maria.