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New report: How Pakistan blocked news outlets, social media sites, and IM apps amidst protests
by Maria Xynou 29 Nov '17

29 Nov '17

Hello Oonitarians, Today, in collaboration with Bytes for All Pakistan, we published a research study titled "How Pakistan blocked news outlets, social media sites, and IM apps amidst protests". Our study is available here: https://ooni.torproject.org/post/how-pakistan-blocked-social-media/ and http://content.bytesforall.pk/node/224 Last weekend, a number of social media sites and news outlets were reportedly blocked in Pakistan during Islamist protests. Through the collection and analysis of OONI network measurements from Pakistan, we confirmed the DNS-based blocking of: * 14 news websites * Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram * Facebook Messenger, Telegram, WhatsApp's web interface (web.whatsapp.com) All of these censorship events were temporarily implemented last weekend (25th & 26th November), and no longer seem to be in place (at least in the networks where tests were/are run). This highlights the need to monitor internet censorship on an ongoing basis around the world. In our previous study with Bytes for All (https://ooni.torproject.org/post/pakistan-internet-censorship/) Pakistani ISPs appeared to be applying "smart filters", selectively blocking the HTTP versions of certain Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter webpages, rather than blocking access to entire domains. Last weekend, however, these sites were blocked entirely. This is also the first time that we have collected technical evidence on the censorship of news websites in Pakistan. In addition to network measurement findings, our report also include censorship circumvention advice and information on how to reproduce this study (in Pakistan or elsewhere). Thanks for reading! ~ The OONI team. -- Maria Xynou Research and Partnerships Coordinator Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) https://ooni.torproject.org/ PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E

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OONI community meeting, tomorrow 28th November
by Maria Xynou 27 Nov '17

27 Nov '17

Hello Oonitarians! The OONI team warmly welcomes you to join us**for our *monthly **community meeting tomorrow**, Tuesday 28th November 2017, at 14:00 UTC.* We'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on how we can improve our tools and research methodologies. Please join us tomorrow on *https://slack.openobservatory.org* and add topics that you would like to discuss as part of the meeting in this pad: https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting If you're not able to join us, please feel encouraged to join us on slack any other day! Looking forward to connecting with you soon! All the best, ~ The OONI team. -- Maria Xynou Research and Partnerships Coordinator Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) https://ooni.torproject.org/ PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E

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Tor meetup at Primavera hacker (Santiago de Chile) [es/en/pt]
by Vasilis 24 Nov '17

24 Nov '17

[ES][EN][PT]¡Encuentro Tor en la Primavera Hacker! ¡Ven! ======================================================== [ES] ¡Encuentro Tor en la Primavera Hacker! ¡Ven! [EN] Tor Meetup at Primavera Hacker! Join us! [PT] Encontro Tor na Primavera Hacker! Venha! [ES] ¡Encuentro Tor en la Primavera Hacker! ¡Ven! ------------------------------------------------- ¡Hola! La Primavera Hacker está por llegar. Durante los días 2 y 3 de diciembre, hackers, activistas, tecnólogos, feministas y demás fauna se darán cita en Santiago de Chile. Esta es una invitación para todos los interesadas e interesados en colaborar con la comunidad Tor. Tor es software libre, estructurado alrededor de una red de servidores mantenidos por voluntarias y voluntarios a lo largo del globo para proteger el anonimato en línea y evadir la censura en Internet. Durante los dos días, miembros de la comunidad Tor estarán presentes en la Primavera Hacker con agenda abierta, dispuestos a conversar, intercambiar experiencias, aprender y enseñar respecto a las tecnologías contra la vigilancia y, principalmente, discutir sobre cómo colaborar con Tor. Tendremos también una mesa llena de stickers y regalitos de Tor Encuentro Tor ------------- La red Tor está compuesta por más de 6 mil computadoras alrededor del mundo. Sin embargo, América Latina tiene una participación muy pequeña. Actualmente en Chile hay solamente 2 nodos en funcionamiento. En Brasil, apenas 25. ¡Necesitamos aumentar la diversidad de la red más allá de los Estados Unidos y Europa! Ven y participa del Encuentro Tor, y aprende como ser parte de la comunidad. Durante los dos días del festival, nuestra idea es cubrir los siguientes temas: - Como funciona Tor, por qué Tor tiene problemas con los VPNs y con los servicios proxy de un salto (1-hop) - Install fest: ¡Instala Tor Browser y Orbot con nosotros! - Como colaborar con la traducción de la documentación al castellano. - Como instalar, configurar y administrar su nodo de Tor. - Como ser voluntario más allá de mantener nodos. - Como usar OONI para detectar la censura en redes. - Como usar herramientas como onion-share. - Tor en universidades y buenas prácticas de investigación. - Tor y la ley, ajustar la legislación sobre Tor en Latinoamérica. - Mejorar la metodología de pruebas para OONI -- Listas de URLs de prueba (https://ooni.torproject.org/get-involved/contribute-test-lists/) - OONI y bloqueos: Cómo analizar los datos de OONI (https://api.ooni.lo) Si no puedes llegar al encuentro, puedes hablar por el canal: IRC: irc.oftc.net #tor-south Por la lista de correo: https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/global-south/ Y el Wiki (Trac) para la documentación, eventos y otras cosas: https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/org/teams/CommunityTeam/Proje… Primavera Hacker: https://phacker.org - http://u5ed42u6sbzq7xzs.onion Un abrazo, =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [EN] Tor Meetup at Primavera Hacker! Join us! Hi! Primavera Hacker (Hacker Spring) is coming. During December 2 and 3, hackers, activists, technologists, feminists and related people will meet in Santiago de Chile. This is an invitation for all people interested in collaborating with the Tor community. Tor is free software, structured around a network of volunteer-run servers, spread all around the world to anonymity online and circumvent Internet censorship. During the two days of the meeting, Tor community members will be present at Primavera Hacker with an open schedule, eager to tealk, exchange experiences, learn and teach about technologies against surveillance and, mainly, discuss how to collaborate with Tor. We will also have a table full of stickers and other Tor swag Tor Meetup ---------- The Tor network is formed by over 6 thousand computers around the world. However, Latin America hosts a very small share of it. Nowadays, in Chile there are only 2 working servers. In Brasil, just 25. We need to increase the diversity of the network beyond the United States and Europe! Come and be a part of the Tor Meetup, and learn how to engage in the Tor community. During the two days of primavera hacker we will cover the following topics: - How does Tor work, why does Tor have problems with VPNs and 1-hop proxy services. - Install fest: Install Tor Browser and Orbot with us! - How to collaborate translating documentation into Spanish. - How to install, configure and administer your Tor relay. - How to use OONI to detect network censorship. - How to use tools such as onion-share. - Tor for universities and good research practices. - Tor and the law, adjust legislation about Tor in Latin America. - Improve the OONI testing methodology -- List of test URLs (https://ooni.torproject.org/get-involved/contribute-test-lists/) - OONI and blocking: How to analyze OONI data (https://api.ooni.lo) If you cannot make it to the meeting, you can talk with the participants on the following channel: IRC: irc.oftc.net #tor-south On our mailing list: https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/global-south/ And the Wiki (Trac) for documentation, events and other things: https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/org/teams/CommunityTeam/Proje… Primavera Hacker: https://phacker.org - http://u5ed42u6sbzq7xzs.onion hugs, ==== Encontro Tor na Primavera Hacker! Venha! ======================================== Hola! A Primavera Hacker está chegando! Nos dias 2 e 3 de dezembro, hackers, ativistas, tecnologistas, feministas se encontrarão em Santiago, no Chile. Este é um convite para todos interessados e interessadas em colaborar com a comunidade Tor. O Tor é um software livre rodado por uma rede de servidores voluntários distribuída pelo mundo para garantir o anonimato online e contornar a censura na Internet. Durante os dois dias membros da comunidade Tor estarão presentes na Primavera Hacker com a agenda aberta para conversar, trocar experiências, aprender e ensinar as tecnologias anti vigilância e, principalmente, discutir sobre como colaborar com o Tor. Teremos uma mesa cheia de adesivos e brindes do Tor Encontro Tor ------------- A rede Tor é composta por mais de 6 mil computadores ao redor do mundo. No entanto, a América Latina tem uma participação muito pequena. Atualmente, no Chile há apenas 2 servidores em funcionamento. E no Brasil apenas 25. Nós precisamos aumentar a diversidade da rede além dos Estados Unidos e Europa! Venha participar do Encuentro Tor e saiba como se engajar na comunidade Tor. Durante os dois dias a nossa ideia é ensinar: - Como funciona o Tor, porque Tor, os problemas com as VPNs e serviços proxy de 1-hop. - Install fest: instale Tor browser & Orbot com a gente! - Como colaborar na tradução da documentação em ES/PT. - Como instalar, configurar e gerenciar o seu relay do Tor. - Como usar o OONI para detectar a censura na rede. - Como usar ferramentas como onion-share. - Como ser voluntário além da hospedagem de servidores. - Tor em universidades e boas práticas de pesquisa. - Tor e a lei: ajustar as leis para o Tor na América Latina. - OONI melhorar a metodologia testada -- listas de URL de testes (https://ooni.torproject.org/get-involved/contribute-test-lists/) - OONI e bloqueios, como analisar OONI data (https://api.ooni.io) Se você não puder comparecer no Encontro, você pode falar com a gente por esse canal: IRC: irc.oftc.net #tor-south E pela lista de email: https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/global-south/ E wiki (Trac) para documentacao, eventos e outras coisas: https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/org/teams/CommunityTeam/Proje… Primavera Hacker: https://phacker.org - http://u5ed42u6sbzq7xzs.onion um abraço, -- ilv, gus, vasilis, gwolf

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New report: Identifying cases of DNS misconfiguration
by Maria Xynou 24 Nov '17

24 Nov '17

Hello Oonitarians, Sometimes what may look like DNS blocking may in fact be a case of DNS misconfiguration (which is not intentional censorship). Such cases were observed in Brazil with the help of Coding Rights, and through the analysis of OONI and RIPE network measurements. Today, OONI's Leonid and Vasilis published a new report examining cases of DNS misconfiguration, which is available here: https://ooni.torproject.org/post/not-quite-network-censorship/ https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/934068462422577152 More specifically, this study draws upon the case of pernambuco.com, a Brazilian news outlet that has reportedly been inaccessible in many networks across Brazil. Following investigations, it was determined that this site was not blocked by means of DNS tampering but rather, inaccessible due to DNS misconfiguration. Similarly, many other international domains were found to be inaccessible for the same reason. OONI's latest study explains how to detect such cases, and offers advice on possible solutions, to improve the accessibility of sites around the world! Cheers, Maria. -- Maria Xynou Research and Partnerships Coordinator Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) https://ooni.torproject.org/ PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E

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Recent censorship events in Nigeria
by Maria Xynou 20 Nov '17

20 Nov '17

Hello Oonitarians, Paradigm Initiative published a very interesting report a few days ago on recent censorship events in Nigeria: https://pinigeria.org/president-buharis-secret-war-on-free-speech/ 21 URLs are reportedly blocked in Nigeria, as listed here: http://www.itrealms.com.ng/2017/11/leaked-ncc-writes-telco-to-block-21-pro.… These URLs include a popular Nigerian news outlet, as well as multiple sites run by the indigenous people of Biafra (who seek independence from Nigeria). If you're in Nigeria and interested in testing these sites, you can do so via the following OONI Run link: https://run.ooni.io/nettest?tn=web_connectivity&ta=%7B%22urls%22%3A%5B%22ht… This will prompt you to install the OONI Probe mobile app (if you haven't already), to test the URLs that are reportedly blocked in Nigeria. By testing these sites with OONI Probe, you will: - confirm whether these sites are in fact blocked (in the network that you test them) - learn how they are blocked - receive relevant circumvention advice (if they are found to be blocked) - increase transparency of these censorship events (since the data is automatically published) All the best, Maria. -- Maria Xynou Research and Partnerships Coordinator Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) https://ooni.torproject.org/ PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E

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Call for volunteers: Measuring internet blackouts
by Maria Xynou 07 Nov '17

07 Nov '17

Hello, Wouldn't it be great if we could automatically track internet blackouts around the world (i.e. when the internet as a whole is inaccessible) through a mobile app and collect technical evidence? The OONI team is working on precisely that, but we need your help! We are looking to collaborate with volunteers who are: * Located in a region that frequently experiences internet blackouts (or who can easily reach such locations) * Quite tech-savvy and can help set-up a test lab (i.e. host a Raspberry Pi or other hardware to run tests) Is this you? Or do you know someone who would be interested in collaborating with us? Please get in touch! The aim of this methodology is to assist advocacy groups fighting internet shutdowns through the collection of technical evidence. We plan to ship this as part of the OONI Probe mobile apps. By supporting the development of this methodology in its early stages, you would be playing an important role in supporting a global community that fights internet blackouts. Happy to address questions. Looking forward to hearing from you! All the best, Maria. -- Maria Xynou Research and Partnerships Coordinator Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) https://ooni.torproject.org/ PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E

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Considerations for upcoming OONI Probe desktop apps
by Maria Xynou 31 Oct '17

31 Oct '17

Hello, Over the next year, the OONI team will be building native OONI Probe apps for Windows and macOS. Hopefully this will make it easier to install and run OONI Probe, and to engage others with censorship measurement research. To implement these apps, OONI started off by carrying out research to decide what technology stack to use, and the high-level architecture. The OONI team experimented with various solutions and documented their advantages and disadvantages. OONI's Arturo published a blog post outlining the architecture and design considerations that we made for the implementation of OONI Probe desktop apps, as a result of research and experimentation with a variety of libraries and approaches. This document, outlining the rationale behind our choices for the apps, is available here: https://ooni.torproject.org/post/writing-a-modern-cross-platform-desktop-ap… Always open to your feedback and suggestions. ~ The OONI team. -- Maria Xynou Research and Partnerships Coordinator Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) https://ooni.torproject.org/ PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E

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OONI article for Data Driven Journalism project
by Maria Xynou 25 Oct '17

25 Oct '17

Hello Oonitarians, Today the Data Driven Journalism project published our article on "Investigating internet censorship with OONI data", which you can read here: http://datadrivenjournalism.net/resources/ooni_data Cheers, Maria. -- Maria Xynou Research and Partnerships Coordinator Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) https://ooni.torproject.org/ PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E

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OONI team meeting in Montreal
by Maria Xynou 21 Oct '17

21 Oct '17

Hello Oonitarians, The OONI team met in Montreal for a 4-day meeting (right before the Tor meeting) between 7th-10th October 2017. We published a post where we share: * The main things we're working on these days * Information about the sessions we held at our meeting and session notes * Meeting outcomes You can read this post here: https://ooni.torproject.org/post/ooni-team-meeting-montreal-2017/ We'd love to hear your thoughts and address any questions you may have. Cheers, Maria. -- Maria Xynou Research and Partnerships Coordinator Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) https://ooni.torproject.org/ PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E

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New Report on Internet Censorship in Pakistan
by Maria Xynou 18 Oct '17

18 Oct '17

Hello Oonitarians, Today, in collaboration with Bytes for All Pakistan, the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) published a research report examining internet censorship in Pakistan over the the last three years. The report, titled "*Internet Censorship in Pakistan: Findings from 2014-2017*", is available here: https://ooni.torproject.org/post/pakistan-internet-censorship/ https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/920588717508751360 This study includes an analysis of thousands of network measurements collected (through the use of OONI Probe) from 22 local vantage points in Pakistan over the last three years. We *confirm the blocking of 210 URLs in Pakistan*. Explicit blockpages were served for many of those URLs, while others were blocked by means of DNS tampering. In many cases, Pakistani ISPs appear to be applying "smart filters", selectively blocking access to specific webpages hosted on HTTP, rather than blocking access to entire domains. Overall, we only found ISPs to be blocking the HTTP version of sites, potentially enabling censorship circumvention over HTTPS (for sites that support encrypted HTTPS connections). We found a wide range of different types of sites to be blocked, including LGBT sites, communication tools, and pornography, amongst others. Notably, most of the blocked URLs include: * Sites hosting content pertaining to the controversial "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" * Web proxies The blocking of sites related to "Draw Mohammed Day" is legally justified under Pakistan's Penal Code, which prohibits blasphemy. Similarly, the blocking of other sites (such as pornography and other sites promoting provocative attire) can be justified under Pakistan's laws and regulations. However, we also found the *sites of the Baluch and Hazara ethnic minority groups to be blocked *as well. According to human rights groups, these minorities have experienced discrimination and abuse by authorities. These censorship events may be politically motivated. On a positive note, we found popular communication tools, like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, to be accessible. Quite similarly, the Tor network was accessible in most networks throughout the testing period. All data collected from Pakistan is publicly available here: https://api.ooni.io/files/by_country/PK ~ The OONI team. -- Maria Xynou Research and Partnerships Coordinator Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) https://ooni.torproject.org/ PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E

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