ooni-talk

ooni-talk@lists.torproject.org

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438 discussions

Guinea blocked social media platforms
by Maria Xynou 27 Nov '23

27 Nov '23

Hello, As of 24th November 2023, OONI data suggests that some ISPs in *Guinea started blocking access to WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube*. The blocks appear to be implemented by means of TLS interference, and the most recent data suggests that they're ongoing. OONI data: ** Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram: * https://explorer.ooni.org/chart/mat?probe_cc=GN&since=2023-11-01&until=2023… ** WhatsApp:* https://explorer.ooni.org/chart/mat?probe_cc=GN&since=2023-11-01&until=2023… ** Telegram:* https://explorer.ooni.org/chart/mat?probe_cc=GN&since=2023-11-01&until=2023… The blocking of YouTube is further suggested by Google traffic data, which shows a drop in YouTube traffic originating from Guinea over the last days: https://transparencyreport.google.com/traffic/overview?hl=en&fraction_traff… If you're in Guinea, you can contribute measurements by running OONI Probe: https://ooni.org/install/ In this case, please ensure your VPN is turned off when running OONI Probe to help contribute more accurate measurements (https://ooni.org/about/risks ). We thank all those in Guinea who have contributed measurements! <3 ~ OONI team.

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Blog post on IMC hackathon projects
by Maria Xynou 25 Nov '23

25 Nov '23

Hello friends, Last month, in collaboration with ISOC, M-Lab, Censored Planet, and IODA, OONI co-hosted an *internet measurement hackathon* alongside the Internet Measurement Conference (IMC) 2023. We published a *blog post sharing the cool projects* that came out of the hackathon: https://ooni.org/post/imc-hackathon-results-2023/ The hackathon participants worked on using OONI data to investigate IPv6 connectivity, data triangulation to infer censorship or shutdown events, and on correlating alarms across multiple datasets. We were very impressed with the results produced by the participants! During the hackathon, OONI's Arturo created "*The Sound of Internet Shutdowns*": a sonification project which transforms some of the features of the IODA dataset into synthesized sounds: https://shutdown-sound.vercel.app/ Here is an example of *how an internet shutdown in Iraq based on IODA data sounds* like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1TFc1AyqI4 Warm thanks to all the participants and co-organizers for making the hackathon a great event! Cheers, Maria.

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OONI Community Meeting: 28th November 2023
by Elizaveta Yachmeneva 23 Nov '23

23 Nov '23

Hello, 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, 28th November 2023 at 14:00 UTC (for 1 hour) Please add topics that you'd like to discuss during the meeting in this pad: https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep <https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep> This is a meeting that we host each last Tuesday of the month, and it is an opportunity to: * Share your feedback on OONI tools & methodologies * Ask questions about OONI tools and OONI data * Discuss internet censorship issues, or share the issues you are facing in your country * Share updates about your work or projects This time we will be also discussing revamping the community meetings format, so if you have any ideas or suggestions, please come and share! We hope you can join us! All the best, ~ OONI team

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f1e184053fdf92b60c0b1c85f76765fc33b684f5
by عبدالكريم الظهابي 15 Nov '23

15 Nov '23

ايفون

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OONI Monthly Report: October 2023
by Maria Xynou 03 Nov '23

03 Nov '23

Hello, This email shares OONI's monthly report for October 2023. *# OONI Monthly Report: October 2023* Throughout October 2023, the OONI team worked on the following sprints: * Sprint 101 (1st - 8th October 2023) * Sprint 102 (9th-22nd October 2023) * Sprint 103 (24th-31st October 2023) Our work can be tracked through the various OONI GitHub repositories: https://github.com/ooni Highlights are shared in this report below. *## Launch of News Media Scan app* In collaboration with Deutsche Welle (DW), we developed an OONI Probe-based app (“News Media Scan”) designed to measure the blocking of news media websites. Similarly to OONI Probe, News Media Scan app test results are published by OONI as open data in real-time (https://ooni.org/data/). On 5th October 2023, Deutsche Welle and OONI launched the News Media Scan app for Android, which is available in the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dw.ooniprobe&pli=1 Deutsche Welle published a press statement, announcing the launch: https://corporate.dw.com/en/news-media-scan-by-dw-deutsche-welle-and-ooni-l… The app also received press coverage by turi2: https://www.turi2.de/aktuell/dw-und-ooni-bringen-app-zur-erkennung-von-inte… We are excited about this launch, as we expect that it will help boost news media censorship measurement worldwide, supporting efforts to defend press freedom around the world. *## New partnership* We are excited to have established a new partnership with Digitally Right ( https://digitallyright.org/), a digital rights organization in Bangladesh. We aim to collaborate on the study of internet censorship in Bangladesh. We also published a page to feature our new research collaboration (established in September 2023) with the GLITCH Research Interest Group at the Oxford Internet Institute, a department of the University of Oxford. This page is available here: https://ooni.org/partners/glitch/ *## Published OONI Community Interview with Siti Nurliza* On 16th October 2023, we published an interview with Siti Nurliza: a talented data analyst and technologist with Sinar Project, one of our most dedicated and long-term partners who have led OONI censorship measurement efforts in Southeast Asia for more than 6 years! Siti’s interview (which we published on the OONI YouTube channel) can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOTjOR7zA2Y This interview is part of our “OONI Community Interviews” series, through which we highlight the important work of OONI community members. We also published a blog post to share the interview and information about Sinar Project and their work: https://ooni.org/post/2023-interview-with-siti-nurliza/ *## OONI Probe user guides available in Vietnamese* As of October 2023, the OONI Probe user guides are available in Vietnamese! The Vietnamese user guides can be found below: * OONI Probe Mobile: https://ooni.org/vi/support/ooni-probe-mobile * OONI Probe Desktop: https://ooni.org/vi/support/ooni-probe-desktop We thank Nathan Tran for the translation! *## OONI Explorer available in Arabic, Burmese and Portuguese* In October 2023, we released OONI Explorer in Arabic, Burmese, and Portuguese. * Arabic: https://explorer.ooni.org/ar * Burmese: https://explorer.ooni.org/my * Portuguese: https://explorer.ooni.org/pt-BR We thank the Localization Lab community for these translations! *## OONI Outreach Kit available in Russian* We are excited to share that the OONI Outreach Kit is now available in Russian! The Russian version of the OONI Outreach Kit can be found here: https://ooni.org/ru/support/ooni-outreach-kit/ *## OONI Probe Mobile* In October 2023, we released OONI Probe Mobile 3.8.4 for both Android ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/releases/tag/v3.8.4) and iOS ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/releases/tag/v3.8.4), which includes a series of improvements. Notably, OONI Probe 3.8.4 includes support for Vietnamese and Burmese. *## OONI Run* As part of our work on creating the next generation version of OONI Run (“OONI Run v2”), we continued to iterate on the user interface designs for the web and mobile applications. We started updating the OONI Run UI on OONI Probe Mobile from v1 to v2, ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/626). This included updating the test overview view, implementing new components ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/629), updating the dashboard view (https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/631), and updating the choose websites view (https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/630). *## OONI Probe CLI* In October 2023, we released OONI Probe CLI 3.19.0: https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/releases/tag/v3.19.0 Below are some highlights from this release: 1) We improved support for measuring throttling by integrating code that takes periodic download speed snapshots while fetching websites in Web Connectivity LTE (the currently-experimental next-generation Web Connectivity implementation). This data collection process will further enrich the measurements we collect and allow spotting throttling across the whole web page download, as opposed to limiting the analysis to spotting throttling during the TLS handshake and the beginning of the download (which is what 3.18 was capable of doing). 2) We introduced the concept of OONI Probe Bridges. A bridge is an IP address that we can use to communicate with the OONI backend and for which we are confident that we can use any Server Name Indication during the TLS handshake without errors. We believe this functionality will improve the reliability under some censorship conditions. 3) We improved measurement scrubbing to remove any string that looks like an IP address or a TCP/UDP endpoint from the HTTP response bodies and headers. We are still scrubbing known IP addresses (e.g., the one used by OONI Probe) from the whole measurement. By adding this extra scrubbing step, we further increase OONI Probe’s safety. 4) We started using the netemx integration testing framework in the codebase. This framework combines GVisor (https://gvisor.dev/), an emulated internet topology, and deep packet inspection, to allow us to write complex and realistic censorship scenarios. We migrated many of the most important nettests to use this framework for testing. Going forward, this capability will allow us to replace the implementation of experiments knowing that key properties related to detecting censorship continue to hold. 5) We added support to the OONI Probe Engine for fetching OONI Run v2 descriptors, which is a precondition for implementing OONI Run v2 in mobile applications. 6) Taking advantage of `netemx`, we migrated all the tests run by `go test -short ./...` to use netemx rather than the host network. This means that, from this release onwards, one does not need to have access to an uncensored network to develop OONI Probe. In fact, all the key unit and integration tests only rely on GVisor and on the emulated network topology described above, meaning that no traffic is actually sent to or received from actual network interface cards. 7) We fixed the bootstrap of OONI Probe in a case where the timeouts configuration conflicted with the bootstrap being successful. While version 3.19 only includes a hotfix, we plan on refactoring this part of OONI Probe and fixing some fundamental issues we identified ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2545). 8) We fixed a data quality issue in Web Connectivity v0.4 where Android’s getaddrinfo resolver conflicted with the analysis logic in the presence of NXDOMAIN-based censorship. Android has a getaddrinfo implementation that always returns EAI_NODATA when there is any error. This happens because getaddrinfo is actually a proxy for a DNS lookup service and there is no support for passing errors along. The OONI Probe engine did already identify this specific error condition as android_dns_cache_no_data. What changed in version 3.19 is that we say that there is a measurement anomaly if this error appears and the test helper, instead, says that the domain for the website we’re measuring successfully resolves to IP addresses. *## Expanding OONI’s testing model to support richer testing input* After months of research on richer input, we were able to draft a plan that describes exactly how we are going to implement it and for which experiments. You can read the whole plan here: https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/1295 Below are some highlights: 1) We will implement richer input by enriching the existing `/api/v1/check-in` response (i.e., the response from the check-in API used to deliver measurement targets to OONI Probe). 2) The check-in API client in the OONI Probe Engine will cache specific bits of the check-in response using the disk or memory. Some information will be cached on disk with a pretty long expiry time. Other information is cached for a short timeframe or kept in memory. 3) We will modify how we run experiments by moving around a pure-data structure that contains the experiment name, the experiment options, and the experiment inputs. (The whole point of richer input is indeed to move options around and honor them when running experiments.) 4) We will need to refactor how ooniprobe, the miniooni research client, and the mobile apps execute experiments by replacing code that create instances of “Experiment” with code that moves around this pure data structure and defers the actual instantiation and execution of the experiment deep inside of the OONI Engine. 5) The ooniprobe, miniooni, and mobile apps codebase will prepare pure-data structures and submit them to the engine for execution. In the common case of running experiments like we currently do, ooniprobe, miniooni, and the mobile apps will not fill any option. Instead, the engine would do that based on the cached check-in content. In October 2023, we also started writing code to implement this plan, but the bulk of the work is going to happen in subsequent weeks and months. Obviously, the plan is tentative and possibly poised to change as we learn more and flesh out the implementation. *## Creating a throttling measurement methodology* As mentioned above when discussing OONI Probe CLI 3.19.0 release notes, there is better support for detecting throttling only in Web Connectivity LTE. As you may remember from previous reports, Web Connectivity LTE is currently experimental and only enabled for a small subset of our users. This situation begs the question of how to bring these extra throttling improvements to all experiments. For example, it would be nice if the OONI Probe Telegram test measures throttling when testing web.telegram.org. To make this possible, we need to switch the underlying engine used by other experiments from the old `legacy/netx` to the new `mesurexlite` engine. The reason why we need to do this change is that the `measurexlite` engine uses a different methodology for collecting OONI measurements called tracing. This methodology is more flexible than the one used by the `legacy/netx` engine, called wrapping, and enables us to collect more data – including data relevant for throttling – in a more flexible way. Currently, Web Connectivity LTE is the only experiment using `measurexlite`. But switching the engine requires rewriting large swaths of code. Thus, we spent time polishing the `netemx` testing framework and rewriting unit and integration testing code to use it. This work occurred in previous reporting periods and was released in version 3.19. Hence, now we start being well positioned to initiate the migration to the `measurexlite` engine. However, `measurexlite` is a low-level engine and writing code for it directly has proven to be difficult. For writing Web Connectivity LTE, in fact, we used a code generator. However, we were not completely satisfied with this approach and we introduced `dslx`, which allows composing measurement primitives in an easy way and which is based on `measurexlite`. Therefore, the plan is now to rewrite existing experiments using `dslx`. To make this possible, in October 2023 we applied fixes that allow writing more compact and expressive code, based on our several-months-long experience in using `dslx`. (To make sure `dslx` was up to the task, we used it extensively when experimenting with richer input; this means that we already know about some pain points.) More specifically, below are the changes we applied to `dslx`: 1. https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2580 2. https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2582 3. https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2611 4. https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2612 5. https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2613 6. https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2614 7. https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2615 8. https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2617 9. https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2618 With these changes implemented, we’re now well positioned to move forward with measuring throttling. *## Creating a Social Media Censorship Alert System* We made progress on the research side of the Social Media Censorship Alert System by polishing a design document and updating the relevant pull request (https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/651) based on feedback. We also started to reach out to members of the research community to collect input on how we might improve upon the design of the alert system. *## Creating a Censorship Incident Reporting Platform* We continued working towards launching the Censorship Incident Reporting Platform. Our focus was on testing, making improvements and UI tweaks ( https://github.com/ooni/explorer/pull/878) to ensure that everything works smoothly. We also updated our component library as needed ( https://github.com/ooni/design-system/). On the backend side, we added support for displaying the author's email address in the admin UI of the incident reporting platform (https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/732). We wrote most of the censorship reports for the platform, and we started publishing them as part of our internal testing process. As part of this testing and publication process, we documented feedback for improvements ( https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/879). All of the reports (along with the platform itself) will be accessible from the OONI Explorer menu navigation bar when the platform is publicly launched. *## OONI backend* In order to improve the effectiveness in circumventing the blocking of the traffic between probes and the API, we deployed a second ooni bridge using a different provider than Hetzner: Greenhost. We fixed a previously identified bug in the probe registration API entry point affecting the authentication JWT. The bug did not impact the live/production API because it uses Orchestrate for this ( https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/731, https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/727). Based on a request from a user, we investigated the generation of test lists in Georgia and created a monitoring script and a dashboard. This is an initial stepping stone to better understand how frequently the URLs in test lists are "reordered" by the prioritization algorithm. We detected a client scraping the aggregation API. The increase in load did not impact the performance of the API to the point of disrupting the service, however it increased the CPU load enough to be clearly noticeable on performance dashboards. We improved an existing Jupyter notebook to extract the heaviest queries. We also investigated using traffic quotas in ClickHouse but encountered a bug in the current version of the database that required postponing the implementation. After noticing high database load due to the measurement uploader tool and the database backup tool we investigated how to lower the query priorities to decrease the impact. We performed initial end-to-end tests for a custom STUN server using probe VPSs as vantage points. The STUN server is meant to be used for circumvention and potentially to measure latency between the probe and the server. We continued carrying out security updates in the OS on our servers ( https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/740). We updated the monitoring host to Debian Bookworm. As part of this Grafana and ClickHouse have been upgraded to newer and more performant versions. We also worked on improving the existing documentation for the backend infrastructure. *## Automating censorship detection and characterization based on OONI measurements* We continued to make progress on automating censorship detection and characterization based on OONI measurements. Specifically, we worked on improving the performance of the observation generation for older buckets, which are currently affected by a bug that makes them not be compressed. As part of this work, we implemented a different parallelization strategy which allows us to reprocess a bucket of measurements in a day in around 5 minutes (whereas previously it was in the range of 30-40 minutes). We also added support for storing statistics in the database about how long it took to process a given batch of measurements, allowing us to more accurately assess how we are doing on the performance front. This work is documented here: https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/37 *## Scoping upcoming research reports* Throughout October 2023, we worked towards scoping some of our upcoming research reports. This involved analyzing OONI data to identify interesting censorship cases, writing internal documents with relevant research questions, plans, and timelines, and coordinating with relevant research partners. *## Created surveys for upcoming OONI training in the DRC* In preparation for a week-long OONI training that we will be facilitating in Kinshasa (DRC) in November 2023, we created two surveys for the participants. The first survey will be shared with the participants at the start of the training, while the second survey will be shared at the end. The goal of these surveys is to evaluate how effective the training will be, and to collect relevant participant feedback. We shared these surveys with the training organizers for French translation. *## Created the agenda for the OONI Team Meeting 2023* Between 8th-10th November 2023, we will host our annual OONI Team Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. This 3-day meeting will provide our team the opportunity to discuss roadmaps, strategic priorities, and projects in person. In preparation for our annual OONI Team Meeting, we solicited team feedback for the agenda. Based on team feedback and session proposals, we worked on creating and finalizing the detailed agenda for our 3-day team meeting. We also coordinated on other relevant logistics pertaining to travel to Nairobi for our upcoming meeting. *## Test Lists updates* In October 2023, we reviewed test list updates contributed by community members. These include: * Extensive update of the Kazakhstan test list by our partner, Internet Freedom Kazakhstan: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1459 * Update of the Global test list by a community member: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1452 *## Rapid response* *## Azerbaijan unblocked access to TikTok* On 31st October 2023, Azerbaijan unblocked access to TikTok! Azerbaijan had previously been blocking access to TikTok since 19th September 2023 (during the military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh). We shared OONI data and reported on the unblocking of TikTok in Azerbaijan on X: https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1719742224940859674 *## Community use of OONI data### iMAP 2023 Internet Censorship Reports* On 13th October 2023, the iMAP project (https://imap.sinarproject.org/) published 10 new research reports on internet censorship in the following Asian countries: Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and the Philippines. These reports are based on the analysis of OONI data collected from these 10 countries. The iMAP 2023 Internet Censorship Reports are available here: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2023 Specifically, they include the following reports: 1) Cambodia: 2023 Internet Censorship Report: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2023/imap-cambodia-2023-internet-cens… 2) Hong Kong (China): 2023 Internet Censorship Report: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2023/imap-hong-kong-2023-internet-cen… 3) India: 2023 Internet Censorship Report: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2023/imap-indonesia-2023-internet-cen… 4) Indonesia: 2023 Internet Censorship Report: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2023/imap-indonesia-2023-internet-cen… 5) Malaysia: 2023 Internet Censorship Report: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2023/imap-malaysia-2023-internet-cens… 6) Myanmar: 2023 Internet Censorship Report: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2023/imap-myanmar-2023-internet-censo… 7) Philippines: 2023 Internet Censorship Report: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2023/imap-philippines-2023-internet-c… 8) Thailand: 2023 Internet Censorship Report: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2023/imap-thailand-2023-internet-cens… 9) Timor-Leste: 2023 Internet Censorship Report: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2023/imap-timor-leste-2023-internet-c… 10) Vietnam: 2023 Internet Censorship Report: https://imap.sinarproject.org/reports/2023/imap-vietnam-2023-internet-censo… The launch and presentation of these reports was live-streamed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkFQxzvJrMs *### Freedom on the Net 2023 reports* Freedom House published their annual Freedom on the Net report ( https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2023/repressive-power-artificia…), which includes numerous country reports ( https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-net/scores). OONI data is cited in the following 38 (out of 70 in total) country-specific Freedom on the Net 2023 country reports: * Azerbaijan: https://freedomhouse.org/country/azerbaijan/freedom-net/2023 * Belarus: https://freedomhouse.org/country/belarus/freedom-net/2023 * Brazil: https://freedomhouse.org/country/brazil/freedom-net/2023 * Cambodia: https://freedomhouse.org/country/cambodia/freedom-net/2023 * Colombia: https://freedomhouse.org/country/colombia/freedom-net/2023 * Cuba: https://freedomhouse.org/country/cuba/freedom-net/2023 * Egypt: https://freedomhouse.org/country/egypt/freedom-net/2023 * Ethiopia: https://freedomhouse.org/country/ethiopia/freedom-net/2023 * India: https://freedomhouse.org/country/india/freedom-net/2023 * Indonesia: https://freedomhouse.org/country/indonesia/freedom-net/2023 * Iran: https://freedomhouse.org/country/iran/freedom-net/2023 * Iraq: https://freedomhouse.org/country/iraq/freedom-net/2023 * Italy: https://freedomhouse.org/country/italy/freedom-net/2023 * Jordan: https://freedomhouse.org/country/jordan/freedom-net/2023 * Kazakhstan: https://freedomhouse.org/country/kazakhstan/freedom-net/2023 * Kenya: https://freedomhouse.org/country/kenya/freedom-net/2023 * Lebanon: https://freedomhouse.org/country/lebanon/freedom-net/2023 * Libya: https://freedomhouse.org/country/libya/freedom-net/2023 * Malaysia: https://freedomhouse.org/country/malaysia/freedom-net/2023 * Myanmar: https://freedomhouse.org/country/myanmar/freedom-net/2023 * Nigeria: https://freedomhouse.org/country/nigeria/freedom-net/2023 * Pakistan: https://freedomhouse.org/country/pakistan/freedom-net/2023 * Philippines: https://freedomhouse.org/country/philippines/freedom-net/2023 * Russia: https://freedomhouse.org/country/russia/freedom-net/2023 * Rwanda: https://freedomhouse.org/country/rwanda/freedom-net/2023 * Saudi Arabia: https://freedomhouse.org/country/saudi-arabia/freedom-net/2023 * Sri Lanka: https://freedomhouse.org/country/sri-lanka/freedom-net/2023 * Sudan: https://freedomhouse.org/country/sudan/freedom-net/2023 * Thailand: https://freedomhouse.org/country/thailand/freedom-net/2023 * Tunis: https://freedomhouse.org/country/tunis/freedom-net/2023 * Turkey: https://freedomhouse.org/country/turkey/freedom-net/2023 * Uganda: https://freedomhouse.org/country/uganda/freedom-net/2023 * UAE: https://freedomhouse.org/country/united-arab-emirates/freedom-net/2023 * UK: https://freedomhouse.org/country/united-kingdom/freedom-net/2023 * Uzbekistan: https://freedomhouse.org/country/uzbekistan/freedom-net/2023 * Venezuela: https://freedomhouse.org/country/venezuela/freedom-net/2023 * Zambia: https://freedomhouse.org/country/zambia/freedom-net/2023 * Zimbabwe: https://freedomhouse.org/country/zimbabwe/freedom-net/2023 *## Community activities### OONI training in Thailand for participants from South Asia* Between 2nd-4th October 2023, OONI’s Maria co-facilitated a 3-day training programme in Thailand in collaboration with IODA’s Amanda. This was an OPTIMA training programme for human rights defenders from South Asia, designed to share skills and knowledge around measuring internet shutdowns. As part of this training programme, Maria facilitated the following OONI workshops: * Introduction to OONI * Using OONI Probe and OONI Run for measuring internet censorship * Updating test lists to improve website censorship testing * Using OONI Explorer to investigate internet censorship based on real-time open data The above workshops included a combination of presentations, live demos, and hands-on exercises (through which participants made use of the tools based on real-world scenarios). In addition to the above, Maria collaborated with Amanda on presenting a case study (“Internet censorship in Myanmar”) that combines both OONI and IODA data for investigating internet shutdowns (involving both outages and blocks). Maria and Amanda also collaborated on facilitating a day-long workshop through which participants worked on group projects aimed at investigating internet censorship based on both OONI and IODA data. At the end of this workshop, participants presented their projects. *### OONI training in Tbilisi for media managers from Turkey* On 5th October 2023, OONI’s Elizaveta facilitated a workshop on OONI tools as part of the training organized by Internews for Turkish media managers. As part of this workshop, managers learned how to use OONI Run to coordinate measurement campaigns, how to collect evidence on the blocking of media tools, and how to use OONI Explorer to investigate the blocking of news media websites in Turkey. *### Hackathon at Internet Measurement Conference (IMC) 2023* On 23rd October 2023, OONI collaborated with ISOC, Censored Planet, and M-Lab on co-hosting an internet measurement hackathon right before the Internet Measurement Conference (IMC) 2023. Information about the hackathon is available here: https://ooni.org/post/2023-imc-hackathon/ As part of the hackathon 3 teams worked on projects which made use of OONI data. The teams which made use of OONI data worked on the following: * Using OONI data to investigate IPv6 connectivity, where they used OONI data to investigate differences and evolution in IPv6 connectivity worldwide and disaggregated by network type. * Data triangulation, where they extracted signals for internet shutdowns by comparing multiple different datasets, including OONI. * ARIMA based anomaly detection, where they developed a statistical anomaly detection model to identify anomalous signals in various datasets, including OONI. All in all, it was great to see how much was accomplished in such a short period of time and we hope that these researchers will have learned more about OONI data and continue to make use of it in the future. In addition to hosting the hackathon, OONI’s Arturo also attended IMC 2023 ( https://conferences.sigcomm.org/imc/2023/). *### OONI Community Meeting* On 31st October 2023, we hosted the monthly OONI Community Meeting on our Slack channel (https://slack.ooni.org/), during which we discussed the following topics: 1) Updates from OONI and the OONI community 2) Community feedback for the naming of OONI’s upcoming new “Censorship Incident Reporting Platform” 3) Community feedback related to re-designing the OONI website 4) Community feedback on OONI’s educational resources: Which are most useful, and which are missing/needed? 5) IODA updates on internet outages in Gaza *## Measurement coverage* In October 2023, 63,123,792 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 3,112 networks in 171 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/ ~ OONI team.

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OONI Explorer available in Portuguese and Burmese
by Elizaveta Yachmeneva 30 Oct '23

30 Oct '23

Hi everyone! Happy to share that OONI Explorer is available in 13 languages including Portuguese and Burmese! Please share the relevant links with your colleagues and community who might be interested in using OONI Explorer in their native languages. Portuguese: https://explorer.ooni.org/pt-BR <https://explorer.ooni.org/pt-BR> Burmese: https://explorer.ooni.org/my <https://explorer.ooni.org/my> Chinese Simplified: https://explorer.ooni.org/zh-CN <https://explorer.ooni.org/zh-CN> Chinese Traditional: https://explorer.ooni.org/zh-Hant <https://explorer.ooni.org/zh-Hant> Farsi: https://explorer.ooni.org/fa <https://explorer.ooni.org/fa> German: https://explorer.ooni.org/de <https://explorer.ooni.org/de> French: https://explorer.ooni.org/fr <https://explorer.ooni.org/fr> Russian: https://explorer.ooni.org/ru <https://explorer.ooni.org/ru> Spanish: https://explorer.ooni.org/es <https://explorer.ooni.org/es> Swahili: https://explorer.ooni.org/sw <https://explorer.ooni.org/sw> Turkish: https://explorer.ooni.org/tr <https://explorer.ooni.org/tr> Thai: https://explorer.ooni.org/th <https://explorer.ooni.org/th> Vietnamese: https://explorer.ooni.org/vi <https://explorer.ooni.org/vi> Please share with me any feedback, especially if you see any typos or inconsistencies in the translations. Huge thanks to Localization Lab and their community for making this possible. If you would want to join the Localization Lab <https://www.localizationlab.org/> community and our Transifex space <https://app.transifex.com/otf/ooni-explorer/> to contribute to the translations into other languages — please let me know and I would be happy to facilitate this process. Best wishes, Elizaveta

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OONI Community Meeting: 31st October 2023
by Elizaveta Yachmeneva 26 Oct '23

26 Oct '23

Hello, 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, 31st October 2023 at 14:00 UTC (for 1 hour) Please add topics that you'd like to discuss during the meeting in this pad: https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep <https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep> This is a meeting that we host each last Tuesday of the month, and it is an opportunity to: * Share your feedback on OONI tools & methodologies * Ask questions about OONI tools and OONI data * Discuss internet censorship issues, or share the issues you are facing in your country * Share updates about your work or projects We hope you can join us! All the best, ~ OONI team

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OONI Monthly Report: September 2023
by Maria Xynou 16 Oct '23

16 Oct '23

Hello, This email shares OONI's monthly report for September 2023. *# OONI Monthly Report: September 2023* Throughout September 2023, the OONI team worked on the following sprints: * Sprint 99 (1st - 10th September 2023) * Sprint 100 (11th - 24th September 2023) * Sprint 101 (25th - 30th September 2023) Our work can be tracked through the various OONI GitHub repositories: https://github.com/ooni Highlights are shared in this report below. *## New research collaboration* In September 2023, we formed a new research collaboration with the GLITCH Research Interest Group (https://glitch.oii.ox.ac.uk/) at the Oxford Internet Institute, a department of the University of Oxford. This involves collaboration on the GLITCH Dashboard (on the interdisciplinary study of information controls) and the exchange of knowledge and expertise on Internet censorship. *## Published report on Grindr blocking in Jordan* In collaboration with My Kali Magazine, we published a new report on the blocking of Grindr in Jordan ("Grindr blocked in Jordan: Shrinking LGBTQ spaces"). Read the report here: https://ooni.org/post/2023-jordan-blocks-grindr/ Our report shares OONI data on the ongoing blocking of Grindr in Jordan. As of 8th August 2023, OONI data shows that access to Grindr (both the website and app) is blocked by means of TLS interference. According to Grindr, the block impacts their public health strategy as their Grindr for Equality program has played an important role in addressing the HIV epidemic in Jordan. *## OONI Probe Mobile* Throughout September 2023, we worked on improvements to the OONI Probe mobile app. Specifically, on OONI Probe iOS, we worked on bug fixes related to upload buttons (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2487) and displaying the “upload measurement” toast ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2511). On OONI Probe Android, we worked on supporting the optional grouping of results ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/613) and addressing a dashboard glitch (https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/612). We also worked on addressing the inconsistent handling of empty OONI Run links on Android and iOS (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2514). In preparation for the launch (October 2023), we worked on final improvements to the “News Media Scan” Android app that we have been developing in collaboration with Deutsche Welle (DW). *## Published OONI Probe user guides in Vietnamese* Thanks to Nathan Tran, the OONI Probe user guides are now available in Vietnamese! The Vietnamese user guides are available below: * OONI Probe Mobile: https://ooni.org/vi/support/ooni-probe-mobile/ * OONI Probe Desktop: https://ooni.org/vi/support/ooni-probe-desktop/ *## Translation of OONI documentation* Thanks to Nathan Tran, the OONI Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) documentation is now available in Vietnamese: https://ooni.org/vi/support/faq/ Thanks to our Senegalese partner, Computech Institute ( https://ooni.org/partners/computech/), the OONI Risks documentation is now available in French: https://ooni.org/fr/about/risks/ *## OONI Run* As part of our work on creating the next generation version of OONI Run (“OONI Run v.2”), we continued working on adding UI support to OONI Probe Android for displaying OONI Run v.2 link descriptors based on the API ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/582). We also added core support for OONI Run v.2 to OONI Probe iOS ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/pull/533). As part of this, we added support for fetch descriptors, save/update descriptors, and for a run descriptor with existing test suites for running tests ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2471). *## OONI Probe CLI* We continued working towards facilitating A/B comparison of Web Connectivity v0.4 and Web Connectivity v0.5. To this end, we adapted all the v0.4 QA tests, which previously used the Jafar tool, to use the new netem QA framework. We are now well positioned to compare v0.4 and v0.5 in complex censorship scenarios and make sure there are no regressions ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2525, https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1803). The changes to OONI Probe CLI as part of this work can be found here: https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/compare/f0f9b5f7...2051a2d3 We redesigned how OONI Probe communicates with the OONI backend and the Web Connectivity Test Helpers (THs) to increase reliability and performance. Specifically, we created a specific TLS and HTTPS network stack for performing these operations that relies on the concept of “beacons”. A beacon is a known-in-advance IP address that allows communicating with the backend or the THs and with which OONI Probe can use arbitrary SNI values. Refactoring OONI Probe CLI to add support for beacons touched upon several areas of the implementation. Roughly speaking, we can divide this work into four major activities: 1) Creating a custom TLS dialer and HTTP/HTTPS stack for communicating with backends and test helpers to avoid mixing measuring-specific and operational concerns; 2) Recognizing that the availability of a custom stack for these interactions opens up nearly for free the possibility of using HTTP/HTTPS proxies for OONI Probe; 3) Adapting the custom TLS dialer and HTTP/HTTPS stack to have a more complex notion of what it should connect to, which is more complex than just knowing domain names and the resulting IP addresses, and includes several “tactics” where each tacting may incorporate knowledge from DNS lookups, prior knowledge about well-known IP addresses, alternative SNIs to use, and knowledge about what OONI Probe knows to be working well; 4) Recognising that some properties of the new TLS dialer may, in the future, cause issues with our probe-IP-address scrubbing policy, and proactively applying changes to be sure that we are not going to include any IPv4 or IPv6 addresses and endpoints into the HTTP body and HTTP header value of submitted OONI measurements. A more detailed description of this work is available here: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2531#issuecomment-1743087781 *## Creating a Censorship Incident Reporting Platform* As part of our ongoing work on the (new) Censorship Incident Reporting Platform, we refactored the code (https://github.com/ooni/explorer/pull/862) and moved the new components to our component library ( https://github.com/ooni/design-system/pull/163). We tested the latest version of the platform to identify further opportunities for improvements. We also continued to make progress on identifying censorship events (along with relevant OONI data) to be published as reports on the platform once launched. *## OONI backend* We began adding support for the compression of measurements ( https://facebook.github.io/zstd/) uploaded in the API. This will significantly improve the measurement submission speed and reduce the impact of the probe on slow networks. This is especially useful for OONI Probe users running tests in environments with poor network performance. We cleaned up a significant amount of disk space on the backend host by removing query logs. We also created a Jupyter notebook to better investigate high query load on the database. The txexitmap tool has been extended to integrate with OONI’s infrastructure (support ClickHouse, generate metrics and alerts ,etc). We started updating the backend hosts, CI and development containers to Debian Bookworm. This is expected to provide security and performance benefits and newer libraries and tools. *### Enabling circumvention* Following the blocking of OONI in China in July 2023 ( https://ooni.org/post/2023-china-blocks-ooni/), we have been working towards boosting circumvention support and making OONI Probe more resilient to blocking. As part of this process, we have been evaluating many options (each with different trade-offs). We prepared an internal design document describing a probe bootstrap process using STUN. This will increase the reliability of the probes on highly censored networks and provide a method for circumvention. We started deploying the forwarding of "OONI bridges" that provide circumvention in the event that OONI services are blocked by means of SNI-based or DNS-based filtering, simplifying the process of probe bootstrap and measurement submission. They also provide better reliability for the test helpers by doing active load balancing. We tested load balancing in Nginx and Haproxy and selected the latter. *## New ECH experiment contributed to OONI by CIS India* In September 2023, Divyank Katira from CIS India ( https://ooni.org/partners/cis-india/) published a blog post describing the new Encrypted Client Hello (ECH) blocking experiment that they contributed to OONI last year: https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/detecting-encrypted-client-h… We worked towards integrating this experiment as part of the experimental suite of the OONI Probe apps: https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1217 *## OONI Community Interviews* We have an “OONI Community Interviews” series on our YouTube channel ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pam2UQoZ1qM&list=PL1sH9kYR-16nlPlFT-RDBs8O0…), where we publish video interviews with OONI community members to highlight their important work, and the ways through which they use OONI tools and data. In September 2023, we continued working on creating several new video interviews with OONI community members. This involved drafting relevant interview questions, filming the interviews, and working with a videographer to edit the footage. *## Preparing for upcoming OONI trainings in the DRC and Thailand* In preparation for a week-long OONI training for human rights defenders and journalists in the DRC, we coordinated with the training organizers on creating a detailed training agenda that meets the needs of the participants. We provided live demos of the OONI tools that will be taught as part of the training, in order to enable live translation during the upcoming training programme. We also prepared and shared relevant OONI resources and reading materials for the participants. Similarly, we also prepared a detailed training agenda, related workshop slides and hands-on exercises for our upcoming OONI training programme in Thailand. *## Planning the OONI Team Meeting 2023* In September 2023, we continued working on required logistical planning for the 2023 OONI Team Meeting and we continued to solicit team feedback for the sessions of the meeting. *## Planning the OONI Partner Gathering 2024* In September 2023, we continued to work on fundraising efforts required for hosting the next OONI Partner Gathering in May 2024. *## Rapid response efforts### Blocking of TikTok and Google Play Store in Azerbaijan* On 19th September 2023 (amid the military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh), TikTok users in Azerbaijan reported that they were unable to use the platform. On the same day, we reported on Twitter that the user reports were corroborated by OONI data collected from Azerbaijan, which showed that access to TikTok was blocked on at least 2 networks in the country ( https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1704160713256628716). We followed-up to share that in addition to TikTok, OONI data also showed the blocking of the Google Play Store in Azerbaijan amid the conflict ( https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1704475063867642269). We shared all relevant OONI data with advocates from the #KeepItOn campaign ( https://www.accessnow.org/campaign/keepiton/). *## Community activities### Global Gathering 2023* Between 15th-17th September 2023, OONI’s Maria and Arturo traveled to Portugal to attend Team CommUNITY’s Global Gathering event ( https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=Global_Gathering). At the Global Gathering, we participated in the 3-day Summit (during which we collected community feedback on our upcoming Censorship Alert System) and we hosted an OONI booth for outreach purposes. *### Advocacy Assembly Internet Shutdown Mentored Training Program* On 21st September 2023, OONI’s Elizaveta hosted a session for the participants of the Advocacy Assembly Internet Shutdown Mentored Training Program (https://advocacyassembly.org/en/news/236). As part of this session, she addressed all the OONI-related questions of the training programme participants. *### FIFAfrica 2023* Between 26th September to 2nd October 2023, OONI’s Norbel and Arturo traveled to Tanzania to participate in the FIFAfrica 2023 conference (one of the largest annual digital rights conferences in Africa). Information about the conference is available here: https://internetfreedom.africa/ On 26th September 2023, we facilitated a session (“Measuring Internet censorship with OONI tools and data”) as part of the Internet Shutdowns Academy FIFAfrica 2023 workshop ( https://twitter.com/uproar_fyi/status/1706972250157539551). On the same day, we also facilitated an OONI workshop as part of the Tor Training Academy (https://twitter.com/zaituni_njovu/status/1706742476596236331). As part of our participation at the main FIFAfrica 2023 conference, we facilitated the following 2 sessions: * Using OONI Run to coordinate the testing of website censorship (28th September 2023): https://whova.com/embedded/session/rWwmoMGALzfjDBkAPdWzA1K4LxMjt38D6BmWiph4… * Measure All The Things! Using Open Data to Investigate Internet Shutdowns, A Primer on Network Interference Research (29th September 2023): https://whova.com/embedded/session/rWwmoMGALzfjDBkAPdWzA1K4LxMjt38D6BmWiph4… *### OONI Community Meeting* On 26th September 2023, we hosted the monthly OONI Community Meeting on our Slack channel (https://slack.ooni.org/), during which we discussed the following topics: 1) Updates from the OONI team 2) Discussion on recommended reading materials in the field of network measurement and how to gain deeper knowledge on the impacts of internet censorship *## Measurement coverage* In September 2023, 61,542,643 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 3,012 networks in 175 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/ ~ OONI team.

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OONI Monthly Report: August 2023
by Maria Xynou 16 Oct '23

16 Oct '23

Hello, This email shares OONI's monthly report for August 2023. *# OONI Monthly Report: August 2023* Throughout August 2023, the OONI team worked on the following sprints: * Sprint 97 (1st - 13th August 2023) * Sprint 98 (14th -27th August 2023) Our work can be tracked through the various OONI GitHub repositories: https://github.com/ooni Highlights are shared in this report below. *## New Project Manager* In August 2023, we hired an OONI Project Manager! We are thrilled that Jessie Bonisteel has joined our team. As OONI's new Project Manager, Jessie will help ensure that our projects are on track, supporting a global community measuring and fighting internet censorship. *## New partnerships* We are excited to have formed new partnerships! In August 2023, we formed partnerships with: * Computech Institute (Senegal): https://ooni.org/partners/computech/ * Internet Freedom Kazakhstan (IFKZ): https://ooni.org/partners/ifkz/ *## Published research report on censorship events in Senegal* In collaboration with Cloudflare, Access Now and Laura Schwartz-Henderson, we published a research report documenting the social media blocks and network outages in Senegal over the past 2 months. Our report is available here: https://ooni.org/post/2023-senegal-social-media-blocks/ Amid political unrest in Senegal, OONI data shows: * Blocking of WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube between 1st-7th June 2023 * Temporary blocking of TikTok between 5th-7th June 2023 * Ongoing blocking of Telegram Web (since 1st June 2023) *## Published blog post about IMC hackathon* In collaboration with Internet Society (ISOC), M-Lab and Censored Planet, we’ll be hosting a hackathon on “Network Interference using Open Data” at the upcoming Internet Measurement Conference (IMC) in Montreal, Canada, in October 2023. To encourage participation, we published a blog post about the hackathon: https://ooni.org/post/2023-imc-hackathon/ *## OONI Probe Mobile* In August 2023, we released OONI Probe Android 3.8.3 ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/releases/tag/v3.8.3). This release includes the latest version of OONI Probe CLI, bug fixes, and a setting that enables users to easily enable and disable all website categories (which was a community feature request). We also continued to make updates and improvements to the “News Media Scan” Android app that we have been developing in collaboration with Deutsche Welle (DW). *## OONI Probe Desktop* In August 2023, we worked on dependency upgrades and subsequent refactoring of the OONI Probe desktop app. The changes involve updated notarization process, and the use of contextBridge which improves the app’s security and UI component updates (https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/pull/330). *## Published OONI Probe user guides in Turkish* Thanks to Kaya Zeren, the OONI Probe user guides are now available in Turkish! The Turkish user guides are available below: * OONI Probe Mobile: https://ooni.org/tr/support/ooni-probe-mobile * OONI Probe Desktop: https://ooni.org/tr/support/ooni-probe-desktop *## OONI Run* As part of our work on creating the next generation version of OONI Run (“OONI Run v.2”), we continued working on adding UI support to OONI Probe Android for displaying OONI Run v.2 link descriptors based on the API ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/582). Specifically, we worked on UI support for translations, the measurement result screen, automated testing of OONI Run v.2 links, and OONI Run link icons ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/601). On the backend side, we continued to improve upon the localization versioning of OONI Run v2 by adding an archived flag ( https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/699), and we changed the fields type ( https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/702). We also wrote internal documentation illustrating the interactions between the UI and the API. *## OONI Probe CLI* In August 2023, we started working towards upgrading users from Web Connectivity v0.4 to v0.5 (also known as “Web Connectivity LTE”: https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/tree/2051a2d330a63cd39d3eb44707f86378de1b…). Web Connectivity LTE attempts to discover more ways in which the tested website is blocked. The two main changes are in the measurement algorithm and in the algorithm used to determine inside OONI Probe whether the tested website was blocked. However, Web Connectivity LTE is still part of the Web Connectivity family of tests and produces a compatible JSON measurement result. The differences between these two implementations call for drafting a plan for comparing the two implementations and ensuring that Web Connectivity LTE does not introduce regressions under the same censorship conditions. We wrote this plan, which consists of two distinct actions: 1) We will write an A/B testing tool based on netem that allows us to compare the two implementations under the same censorship conditions ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2525); 2) We will more actively use the richer testing input functionality implemented in the previous months to ensure that users use Web Connectivity LTE for limited periods of time, following up with what we did in July 2023 for users in Pakistan when investigating measurement failures occurring with Web Connectivity v0.4 ( https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/695, https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2499). By switching users to Web Connectivity LTE for limited periods of time, we aim to collect data that is useful for comparing with similar measurements collected by Web Connectivity v0.4. The results of this analysis, in turn, would inform the development of further A/B tests using netem. Once we drafted this plan, we started implementing it. The initial work consisted of migrating existing tests using Jafar (the previous QA framework based on iptables) to using netem. We started working towards this direction by splitting and landing a previous prototype, and then converting individual Jafar-based tests to use netem instead. Our progress in this area is available here: https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/compare/a040ad9a4185ba5d104fd2b88f9e69582…. We continued to prepare for OONI Probe CLI v3.18.2 and v3.19.0 releases by upgrading the C dependencies (https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1194) and specifically upgrading OpenSSL ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1191). We also triaged, mitigated and started planning to fix an issue introduced in OONI Probe CLI v3.18.0 that affects the Tor Snowflake experiment on Android devices. The gist of the issue is that upgraded dependencies negatively impacted Snowflake ability to bootstrap on new Android 11+. Further information about this issue is documented here: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2529 *## OONI Explorer* In August 2023, we released OONI Explorer in Vietnamese: https://explorer.ooni.org/vi We thank the Localization Lab community (https://www.localizationlab.org/) for making OONI Explorer available in many languages, and for their ongoing OONI Explorer localization efforts ( https://explore.transifex.com/otf/ooni-explorer/). We also fixed a bug that prevented users from selecting countries on the OONI Explorer Circumvention Dashboard ( https://github.com/ooni/explorer/commit/e38c58aff54ae4418194891e9dcd742e228… ). *## Published screencast for OONI Explorer Search Tool* To enable researchers and human rights defenders to make use of OONI data, we published a screencast for the OONI Explorer Search Tool ( https://explorer.ooni.org/search). The screencast (published on our YouTube channel) is available here: https://youtu.be/7jNFqHH43x8 This screencast provides visual, step-by-step guidance on how to use the OONI Explorer Search Tool to filter OONI measurements and uncover cases of blocking. *## Creating a Censorship Incident Reporting Platform* In August 2023, we continued to work towards building a (new) Censorship Incident Reporting Platform. Specifically, we improved the field validation of the platform (https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/710, https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/707), and we added backend support for a new "short_description" field ( https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/711, https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/708). We now have a testing version of the Censorship Incident Reporting Platform, which we tested internally in an attempt to identify issues and opportunities for improvement. We also worked towards collecting information (and relevant OONI data) for all the censorship reports that we aim to publish with the launch of the platform. *## OONI backend* Following the release of OONI Probe Android 3.8.3, we noticed issues with the Tor Snowflake experiment (causing the app to crash). We therefore added backend support to annotate such measurements as “failed” ( https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/704, https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/705) and we reprocessed old measurements. We annotated Signal experiment measurements from outdated probes (which were resulting in false positives) as “failed” ( https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/679), and we created an internal dashboard to investigate other possible cases that may be affecting OONI data quality. We also fixed a bug affecting the scoring of vanilla Tor measurements (https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/608, https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/706). We ran a set of tests on the fastpath to measure performance improvements obtained by buffering writes to the database and, notably, we reached a 25x speedup during measurement reprocessing. Based on community feedback, we added backend support to the API for filtering measurements by different experiment versions ( https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/615), as well as by software version and engine version (https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/703). *## Automating censorship detection and characterization based on OONI measurements* As part of our participation at the Chaos Communication Camp 2023 ( https://events.ccc.de/camp/2023/infos/index.html), we organized and hosted an OONI hackathon where participants were given access to the database used by the OONI data analysis tool (https://github.com/ooni/data). During the hackathon, participants were able to run queries against the database to produce novel analysis of OONI measurements ( https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1aCmjqKOVKi2AUe1ZqOljyao9LkAo97CT5I5…). This resulted in the collection of feedback and suggestions on how we can improve our analysis (https://pad.riseup.net/p/hack-ooni-ccc2023-keep). *## OONI data support for Freedom on the Net 2023 reports* Over the last years, we have collaborated with Freedom House researchers on providing relevant OONI data in support of their annual Freedom on the Net reports (https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net). In August 2023, we received multiple questions and data requests from Freedom House researchers, and we responded by providing relevant OONI data for various country-specific Freedom on the Net 2023 reports. *## Localization of the OONI Outreach Kit* In March 2023, we published the OONI Outreach Kit ( https://ooni.org/support/ooni-outreach-kit/) to share OONI resources and materials that can be used as part of OONI community engagement efforts. In August 2023, we started working towards the localization of the OONI Outreach Kit to enable its use by more communities around the world. We drafted guidelines for the localization of the OONI Outreach Kit, which we shared with translators. In addition to coordinating with translators, we also coordinated with designers to ensure that the design of the Outreach Kit supports RTL layout. *## OONI Community Interviews* We have an “OONI Community Interviews” series on our YouTube channel ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pam2UQoZ1qM&list=PL1sH9kYR-16nlPlFT-RDBs8O0…), where we publish video interviews with OONI community members to highlight their important work, and the ways through which they use OONI tools and data. In August 2023, we worked on creating several new video interviews with OONI community members. This involved drafting relevant interview questions, filming the interviews, and working with a videographer to edit the footage. *## Planning the OONI Partner Gathering 2024* We are planning to host a 2-day event (“OONI Partner Gathering”) in May 2024, which would bring our international network of partners together to share skills and knowledge around censorship measurement. We had already done extensive research and planning in previous months, developing a script for a data-driven approach for identifying what could be the best city for the event based on various parameters (visa requirements, cost, travel time, safety index, etc.), researching related logistics, creating a participant list and related budgets. In August 2023, we made adjustments to our logistical planning and we wrote 2 versions of a Concept Note for the OONI Partner Gathering 2024 as part of our fundraising efforts. *## Planning the OONI Team Meeting 2023* In August 2023, we started working towards organizing our annual OONI Team Meeting: a 3-day event which brings the OONI team together to have in-depth discussions about projects, strategic priorities, team health, and improving roadmaps. This annual meeting is important for our team, given that we do not have a physical office and work remotely from different countries (and continents) throughout the year. Last year we hosted the 2022 OONI Team Meeting in Rome, but unfortunately some of our team members were not able to join in person due to visa issues. We have therefore decided to host the 2023 OONI Team Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, which has looser visa requirements for all our team members (and which was identified as one of the top “visa-free” locations based on the script that we developed as part of our related research for the OONI Partner Gathering). In August 2023, we finalized the logistical planning for the 2023 OONI Team Meeting and we started collecting team feedback for the sessions of the meeting. *## Rapid response efforts### TikTok blocking in Senegal* Following protests over the sentencing of opposition leader Ousmake Sonko, the Senegalese government ordered the blocking of TikTok on 2nd August 2023 (https://twitter.com/AbdouJCisse/status/1686748294888685570). In response, we shared OONI Probe testing instructions (to ensure the testing of TikTok endpoints) with Senegalese partners, our broader community, and on Twitter ( https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1686775778455830531). To help boost the testing of TikTok, we also boosted the testing priority for TikTok in Senegal (based on our smart URL list system) and we sent a push notification to OONI Probe users in Senegal (encouraging them to run an OONI Run link for the testing of TikTok endpoints). As a result, we immediately collected and published data documenting the blocking of TikTok in Senegal on the same day (with a large spike in measurement coverage): https://explorer.ooni.org/chart/mat?probe_cc=SN&since=2023-07-03&until=2023… Similarly to the previous blocking of other social media platforms ( https://ooni.org/post/2023-senegal-social-media-blocks/), OONI data shows that access to TikTok was blocked by means of TLS interference. *### Telegram blocking in Iraq* On 5th August 2023, Iraq started blocking access to Telegram over personal data concerns. We shared relevant OONI data on Twitter ( https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1688576131157434368), as well as further information with the #KeepItOn advocacy mailing list. Specifically, OONI data shows that the Telegram block was implemented on several networks in Iraq ( https://explorer.ooni.org/chart/mat?probe_cc=IQ&since=2023-07-05&until=2023…), and that they blocked access to both the Telegram mobile app and to Telegram Web. The block appeared to be IP-based, as attempted connections to Telegram endpoints consistently failed. Kentik published a relevant blog post, citing OONI data: https://www.kentik.com/blog/iraq-blocks-telegram-leaks-blackhole-bgp-routes/ *### Grindr blocking in Jordan* On 8th August 2023, Jordan started blocking access to Grindr. We responded by sharing relevant OONI data on the block on Twitter ( https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1689674923520794627). OONI data shows that access to Grindr was blockhttps:// twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1689674923520794627ed by means of TLS interference on at least 5 networks in Jordan. *### OONI Run testing of The Intercept in Pakistan* Following reports that access to The Intercept may have been blocked in Pakistan, Micah Lee (The Intercept's Director of Information Security) shared an OONI Run link on Mastodon, encouraging the testing of theintercept.com in Pakistan ( https://infosec.exchange/@micahflee/110861931459869851). We also boosted the testing priority of the website in our backend to help increase relevant measurement coverage. No signs of censorship have been detected so far ( https://explorer.ooni.org/chart/mat?probe_cc=PK&since=2023-07-11&until=2023…). *## Community use of OONI data### Sinar Project report on censorship monitoring during Malaysia’s 2023 state elections* Our partner, Sinar Project (https://ooni.org/partners/sinar-project), published a report providing an update on their censorship monitoring efforts during Malaysia’s 2023 state elections. Their report (which is based on OONI data) is available here: https://imap.sinarproject.org/news/internet-censorship-update-internet-cens… *### Press statement on news media censorship in Malaysia* In August 2023, Geramm (a press freedom movement from Malaysian) published a press statement calling on the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to explain the Internet regulator’s decision to block news websites. This followed the recent blocking of yet another news media website (utusantv.com) in Malaysia. Their press statement (which cites the use of OONI tools and data) is available here: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid029QVYcUmLt6s8je5zJctUpGfG… *## Community activities### Chaos Communication Camp 2023* Between 15th-19th August 2023, OONI’s Arturo and Maria traveled to Germany to attend the Chaos Communication Camp 2023 (CCCamp 2023), one of the largest hacker camps in the world with a digital rights focus. Information about CCCamp 2023 is available here: https://events.ccc.de/camp/2023/infos/index.html On 18th August 2023, we presented OONI and facilitated an OONI hackathon at CCCamp 2023. Below we share: * Information about the OONI presentation and hackathon: https://events.ccc.de/camp/2023/hub/camp23/de/event/internet-measurement-da… * Slides used for the presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1aCmjqKOVKi2AUe1ZqOljyao9LkAo97CT5I5… * Pad with the hackathon challenges and participant feedback: https://pad.riseup.net/p/hack-ooni-ccc2023-keep *### MAT live demo as part of OCF’s Internet Freedom Meetup webinar* On 23rd August 2023, OONI’s Maria participated in the Open Culture Foundation’s (OCF) monthly Internet Freedom Meetup webinar ( https://ocf.tw/en/p/issues/coffeeandcircumventionen). As part of her participation, Maria provided a live demo on how to use OONI’s Measurement Aggregation Toolkit (MAT). *### OONI Community Meeting* On 29th August 2023, we hosted the monthly OONI Community Meeting on our Slack channel (https://slack.ooni.org/), during which we discussed the following topics: 1) Updates from the OONI team 2) Community feedback on push notifications (continuation of discussion from July 2023 community meeting) *## Measurement coverage* In August 2023, 62,887,269 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 3,061 networks in 174 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/ ~ OONI team.

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OONI Monthly Report: July 2023
by Maria Xynou 16 Oct '23

16 Oct '23

Hello, This email shares OONI's monthly report for July 2023. *# OONI Monthly Report: July 2023* Throughout July 2023, the OONI team worked on the following sprints: * Sprint 95 (3rd - 16th July 2023) * Sprint 96 (17th - 30th July 2023) Our work can be tracked through the various OONI GitHub repositories: https://github.com/ooni Highlights are shared in this report below. *## New partnership* We are excited to have formed a new partnership with Digital Rights Lab Sudan (https://twitter.com/DRLab_Sudan)! The goal of the partnership is to collaborate on the study of internet censorship in Sudan. We published a dedicated partner page for Digital Rights Lab Sudan, highlighting their important work: https://ooni.org/partners/drlab/ *## Published report on China blocking OONI* In July 2023, China started blocking access to our website (ooni.org) and censorship measurement app (OONI Probe). We published a report documenting the blocking of OONI in China with OONI data: https://ooni.org/post/2023-china-blocks-ooni/ The block appears to be implemented by means of DNS injection and TLS interference. This is the first time that we're observing a large and persistent drop in OONI measurement coverage as a result of OONI Probe blocking. The report also includes advice for circumventing the blocking of OONI Probe in China. However, running OONI Probe in China is now probably riskier. *## OONI Probe Mobile* Throughout July 2023, we worked towards the release of OONI Probe Mobile 3.8.3. As part of this, we worked on extensive QA testing for both Android ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2504) and iOS ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2509). Based on community feedback, we worked on adding functionality to OONI Probe Android to automatically test new networks ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/900). We also worked on improvements to a new Android app (“News Media Scan”) that we have been developing in collaboration with Deutsche Welle over the past months. *## OONI Probe Desktop* In July 2023, we released OONI Probe Desktop 3.9.1 ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/releases/tag/v3.9.1) with the latest version of OONI Probe CLI and updated dependencies. *## OONI Run### Building OONI Run v.2* In July 2023, we added experimental support to the OONI Probe Engine for invoking the fetch API allowing a client to obtain OONI Run v2 descriptors ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1176). This functionality allows the OONI Probe mobile app to start implementing OONI Run v2 ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/582). We then worked towards adding support for running OONI Run v2 links in the OONI Probe mobile app ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2474). The general idea for this first iteration is to implement minimal functionality into the Engine and let the app do most of the work. Notably, we reached a first milestone where we have an experimental version of the OONI Probe Android app where it is possible to: * Inspect and install an OONI Run v2 link into the OONI Probe Android app dashboard; * Run such a link directly or together with other nettests; * See the results it produced reusing the view used for experimental nettests. Subsequent development milestones will focus on implementing the missing functionality (e.g., updating OONI Run v2 links) and on optimizing the implementation. We continued working on the UI improvements for the OONI Run v2 web editor ( https://github.com/ooni/run/pull/131). We also added backend support for separating the versioning of the copy (included in translations) from the nettest data (https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/694), and we added localization support to OONI Run v.2 ( https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/699). To enable the development of the OONI Run platform, we allowed login redirection for more domains on the API (https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/697). *### Launch of OONI Run supporting localization* In July 2023, we launched OONI Run (https://run.ooni.io/) with support for 9 languages (beyond English): Farsi, Russian, Thai, Turkish, Chinese (Taiwan), Chinese (China), German, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish. This work is available here: https://github.com/ooni/run/pull/132/files We thank the Localization Lab community (https://www.localizationlab.org/) for making OONI Run available in so many languages, and for their ongoing OONI Run localization efforts (https://explore.transifex.com/otf/ooni-run/). *## OONI Probe CLI* We started preparing the release of OONI Probe CLI 3.18.1, which should include (a) better support for measuring throttling with Web Connectivity LTE; (b) updated dependencies and assets. We also continued to make progress towards OONI Probe CLI v3.19.0. Following up from the work done in previous sprints, we have continued to take advantage of the netem QA framework and we have started migrating some nettests to use it for QA purposes. By using netem, we are able to exercise more censorship conditions in an easier way compared to the previous framework we used (Jafar, based on Linux and iptables). For now, we have migrated the following experiments to netem: * dnsping (https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1177); * facebook_messenger (https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1178); * sniblocking (https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1179); * whatsapp (https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1181); * telegram (https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1182). As a result, the availability of better QA tests opens up the possibility of being more confident in rewriting these experiments to use the DSL introduced as part of the richer input error. *## Expanding OONI’s testing model to support richer testing input* We continued to work on supporting richer testing input ( https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/1291). In previous months, we worked towards writing a DSL ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain-specific_language) to support richer testing input (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2494) in the context of our richer testing prototype (https://github.com/ooni/2023-05-richer-input). We completed this task in early July 2023 ( https://github.com/ooni/2023-05-richer-input/pull/7, https://github.com/ooni/2023-05-richer-input/pull/8). We now have a DSL that is both external and internal. The internal DSL is executable code but can also be serialized to JSON. We can read the JSON and execute it as an external DSL. We basically use the same code for both DSLs. The internal DSL uses Go generics and each stage in the measurement pipelines has specific input and output types. The external DSL wraps each internal DSL stage with a stage that performs type checking at runtime. The final DSL ( https://github.com/ooni/2023-05-richer-input/releases/tag/v0.3.0) is not Turing complete and only supports stage composition. We have primitive stages (e.g., DNS lookups, TCP connect, TLS handshake, QUIC handshake, HTTP transactions). We have stages for composing together measurement pipelines (e.g., we can compose a TCP connect operation and a TLS handshake operation). And we have primitives to compose pipelines that perform DNS lookups with pipelines that perform endpoint measurements (e.g., TCP connect, TLS handshake). Now that we have finished researching, we have also reached a better degree of clarity on what we can potentially achieve by expressing richer input using this DSL: 1) We can run code directly (internal DSL) or we can generate JSON that we can serve to OONI Probes (external DSL). By serving code to probes, we can update the definition of nettests. So, in the future, we would need less emergency releases when IM apps (such as Signal) change their testing requirements (e.g., they change the CA they use). 2) We can incrementally roll out better implementations of experiments without making new OONI Probe releases. For example, we can (easily!) add support for TLS handshakes to the Facebook Messenger nettest and run this extended version of the nettest only in a subset of probes, closely monitoring whether everything is working as intended, ready to back out the changes in case of issues, or roll out the functionality more extensively if all looks good. 3) We can support the use case of using OONI Probe for research. We (or anyone else concerned) will potentially be able to feed a specific measurement DSL pipeline to OONI Probe consisting of the operations that matter for research. For example, we can imagine serving extra follow-up tests that would run as part of the experimental suite on an opt-in basis in case there is a need to further investigate some censorship findings. To investigate the suitability of the DSL, we reimplemented the Facebook Messenger (https://github.com/ooni/2023-05-richer-input/pull/7) and RiseupVPN (https://github.com/ooni/2023-05-richer-input/pull/12) experiments. The latter, in particular, seems a good candidate to start upgrading production code to use the DSL since it is currently disabled due to concerns involving false positives. For this reason, we also sketched out an initial plan to upgrade it to use the DSL ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2502). In subsequent months, we will continue to investigate this topic, refine our implementation, engage in internal discussions, work on streamlining possible use cases and on defining a path to start rolling this feature out in production. In the meanwhile, we have started to feel more confident about the DSL implementation, as we started adding integration testing using netem (https://github.com/ooni/netem) to it ( https://github.com/ooni/2023-05-richer-input/pull/7, https://github.com/ooni/2023-05-richer-input/pull/9). *## Creating a throttling measurement methodology* Regarding measuring throttling (https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/1296), we finished improving support for measuring the download speed ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2493). As Web Connectivity LTE now implements collecting download speed samples during a download, we started preparing for making it the default Web Connectivity implementation and for retiring version v0.4. To this end, we started adding support for netem-based integration testing (https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1170) and we backported the patch to collect download speed samples ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1166) to the release/3.18 branch so that we can include this functionality in the upcoming 3.18.1 OONI Probe release. *## OONI Explorer* In July 2023, we released OONI Explorer in the following 2 additional languages: * Swahili: https://explorer.ooni.org/sw * Traditional Chinese: https://explorer.ooni.org/zh-Hant Beyond English, OONI Explorer now supports 10 languages! We thank the Localization Lab (https://www.localizationlab.org/) community for making OONI Explorer – and real-time open data on internet censorship worldwide – available in additional languages! *## Creating a Social Media Censorship Alert System* We continued to make progress towards building a Social Media Censorship Alert System (https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/651). Based on internal review of the code, we updated the internal design document for further review. We added support for real-time notifications on Slack in the Social Media blocking event detector, along with a summary HTML page. We also created a dedicated Jupyter notebook to show a summary of recent events flagged as social media blocking alerts by our system. *## Creating a Censorship Incident Reporting Platform* In July 2023, we continued working on the UI implementation of the (new) Censorship Incident Reporting Platform ( https://github.com/ooni/explorer/pull/862). Specifically, we added form validations, we improved the layouts (also) by further expanding our component library (https://github.com/ooni/design-system/pull/163), and we added the report index view. *## Automating censorship detection and characterization based on OONI measurements* Improvements were made to how errors are handled while writing observations to the database. Specifically, support was added to dump failing rows to file and retry writing the affected row in the event of a failure ( https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/33). Through this we were able to identify some bugs in the processing of certain types of measurements and implement fixes for them. We started reaching out to third party researchers interested in using this new observation database and training them on how to use it. As part of this, we came up with a setup that allows independent researchers to connect to the database used by the OONI data analysis tool ( https://github.com/ooni/data) and run queries on the platform. *## OONI backend* We improved our Jupyter notebook that tracks test helper failures grouped by datacenter location. It detected a 1-hour long event impacting 0.th.ooni.org. The event was investigated and found to be benign. We continued ongoing work to predict the amount of incoming measurements on a per-country basis using basic machine learning in order to send alarms to the team in the event of a sudden loss of measurements. *## Published OONI Outreach Kit printing materials* In July 2023, we updated the OONI Outreach Kit to include materials designed for printing (https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/pull/1394). The updated OONI Outreach Kit (including printing materials) is available here: https://ooni.org/support/ooni-outreach-kit/ *## Interviewed Project Manager candidates* In July 2023, we reviewed the final applications and we completed the second round of interviews for the OONI Project Manager position ( https://ooni.org/post/2023-job-opening-ooni-project-manager/). Based on these interviews, we reached a hiring decision and followed up with candidates. *## FOCI 2023 Community Award* On 10th July 2023, OONI’s Maria received the Free and Open Communications on the Internet (FOCI) 2023 Community Award, recognizing the impact of her work in the field of Internet freedom on the wider community. We dedicate this award to the whole OONI community, without whom this work would not be possible ( https://twitter.com/agrabeli_/status/1678722087953760256). *## Community use of OONI data### Report of the Tehran Electronic Commerce Association* In July 2023, the Tehran Electronic Commerce Association published a report on the low quality of the Internet in Iran, citing OONI in many pages (pages 4, 5, 6, 16, 20, 35, 37). Their report is available here: https://etchamber.ir/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Iran-Internet-v0.9.pdf OONI was also cited in an article by Peivast (one of Iran’s largest tech outlets), discussing the findings of the report of the Tehran Electronic Commerce Association: https://peivast.com/p/170337 *### Blocking of satirical news website in Jordan* Our partner, JOSA (https://ooni.org/partners/josa/), reported on the blocking of a satirical news media website (AlHudood) in Jordan, citing OONI data: https://twitter.com/jo_osa/status/1677041740107198465 *### TEDIC’s research report examining internet shutdowns in Northern Paraguay* Our partner, TEDIC (https://ooni.org/partners/tedic/), published a new research report investigating potential disruptions to internet access in the northern zone of Paraguay. We supported this study by providing relevant OONI data analysis. Their report was published in: * Spanish: https://www.tedic.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Informe-Apagones-de-Intern… * English: https://www.tedic.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Internet-Shutdowns-Report-… TEDIC also published a blog post about the study in: * Spanish: https://www.tedic.org/apagones-de-internet-en-paraguay/ * English: https://www.tedic.org/en/internet-shutdowns-in-paraguay/ *### Sinar Project’s report on the blocking of MalaysiaNow* Our partner, Sinar Project, published a report documenting the blocking of MalaysiaNow in Malaysia, through the use of OONI tools and data. Their report is available here: https://imap.sinarproject.org/news/blocking-of-malaysianow-website *### Sinar Project’s report on the blocking of a website of a former Malaysian MP* Sinar Project published a report documenting the blocking of a website ( weechookeong.com) which belongs to a former Malaysian Member of Parliament. Their report makes use of OONI data, and is available here: https://imap.sinarproject.org/news/internet-censorship-update-blocking-of-w… This report received press coverage from MalaysiaNow: https://www.malaysianow.com/news/2023/07/28/online-freedom-monitor-confirms… *### EngageMedia’s Advocacy Toolkit for Civil Society Organizations* In July 2023, EngageMedia published “Addressing Internet Censorship and Content Filtering: An Advocacy Toolkit for Civil Society Organizations” which features OONI tools and resources ( https://engagemedia.org/2023/toolkit-internet-censorship/). Their toolkit is available here: https://engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/GIF-Regional-Toolkit-Add… *### PhD thesis on modeling and characterizing internet censorship technologies* In July 2023, a PhD thesis (titled “Modeling and Characterization of Internet Censorship Technologies”) by Alexander Master was published (making use of OONI data): https://www.doi.org/10.25394/PGS.23666784 *### FOCI 2023 academic paper studying worldwide view of nation-state Internet censorship* In July 2023, an academic paper studying a worldwide view of nation-state Internet censorship was published and presented at FOCI 2023. This paper makes use of OONI data for its analysis. The paper is available here: https://www.petsymposium.org/foci/2023/foci-2023-0008.pdf *### Other FOCI 2023 papers citing OONI* OONI was also cited in the following FOCI 2023 papers: * “Crowdsourcing the Discovery of Server-side Censorship Evasion Strategies”: https://www.petsymposium.org/foci/2023/foci-2023-0016.pdf * "Towards a Comprehensive Understanding of Russian Transit Censorship": https://www.petsymposium.org/foci/2023/foci-2023-0012.pdf * "Detecting Network Interference Without Endpoint Participation": https://www.petsymposium.org/foci/2023/foci-2023-0010.pdf *## Community activities### FOCI 2023* On 10th July 2023, OONI’s Arturo attended the Free and Open Communications on the Internet (FOCI) 2023 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Information about the workshop is available here: https://foci.community/ *### Keynote at HotPETs 2023* On 14th July 2023, OONI’s Maria delivered a keynote (titled “The Power of Community Participation in Shaping Digital Rights Tech”) at HotPETs 2023 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Information about the workshop is available here: https://petsymposium.org/2023/hotpets.php *### OONI workshop for Legal Resource Center in South Africa * On 24th July 2023, OONI’s Elizaveta facilitated an online OONI workshop for the team members of South Africa’s Legal Resource Center ( https://lrc.org.za/). The goal of the workshop was to introduce lawyers to the use of OONI tools and data. *### OONI workshop for civil society in Zimbabwe* On 31st July 2023, OONI’s Elizaveta facilitated an online OONI workshop for civil society groups in Zimbabwe, in preparation for the country’s upcoming elections (which may trigger censorship events). *### OONI Community Meeting* On 25th July 2023, we hosted the monthly OONI Community Meeting on our Slack channel (https://slack.ooni.org/), during which we discussed the following topics: 1) Updates from the OONI team 2) IODA Update: Design Standards and Outage Severity Map ( https://ioda.inetintel.cc.gatech.edu/reports/ioda-update-designstandards-ou…) 3) Community feedback on the thematic presentation of censorship findings on OONI Explorer 4) Community feedback on push notifications: How should OONI utilize them going forward? What would be most useful? *## Measurement coverage* In July 2023, 62,256,645 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 3,135 networks in 172 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/ ~ OONI team.

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