Hello,

This email shares OONI's monthly report for November 2024.

*# OONI Monthly Report: November 2024*

Throughout November 2024, the OONI team’s work can be tracked through the various OONI GitHub repositories: https://github.com/ooni

Highlights are shared in this report below.

*## Report on the temporary blocking of social media in Mauritius*

In November 2024, we published a new report on the blocking of social media in Mauritius ahead of the country’s 2024 general election. This report was published on the OONI Explorer Censorship Findings platform: https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/73729350400

As part of this short report, we documented the blocking of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter/X, and Linkedin in Mauritius on 1st November 2024 based on OONI data. As the blocks were lifted the next day (2nd November 2024), we updated the report to include OONI data on the unblocking of social media platforms in Mauritius.

*## Expanding measurement methodologies*

As part of our ongoing efforts to expand and improve upon our measurement methodologies, we:

* Made improvements to our DNS measurement capabilities by simplifying the DNSCheck list to focus on key provider endpoints ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1656); * Enhanced our ECH testing capabilities by switching to cloudflare-ech.com as the target and adding support for additional handshake configurations ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1658).

*## Automating censorship detection and characterization based on OONI measurements*

In November 2024, we made significant progress on the OONI Pipeline v5, preparing a new release candidate (https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/99) and working on its production deployment ( https://github.com/ooni/devops/pull/112).

As part of this work, we added support for parsing ECH-related fields from TLS handshakes and OONI Run link IDs (https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/100). We also improved our infrastructure and documentation by consolidating our data-related hosts to streamline our research infrastructure ( https://github.com/ooni/devops/issues/109).

*## Activities supported by OTF FOSS ### OONI Probe Engine*

In November 2024, we shipped OONI Probe 3.24.0: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2813

The release includes: * Changes to enable the ECH Check experiment and reduce DNS Check experiment inputs * Changes to enable system resolver for the DNS Check experiment * Some improvements in the OpenVPN experiment * Bug fixes for oonimkall and the Psiphon tunnel

*### OONI Probe Mobile*

We continued to make significant progress on our multi-platform project that aims to refactor the OONI Probe mobile applications. While our focus was on testing and QA specifically for the News Media Scap application, the majority of bugs found and fixed also benefit the OONI Probe applications because they share 80-90% of the code.

Some highlights include:

* We fixed a crash and addressed some performance issues: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/261 * We improved the loading state of the measurement detail views: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/276 * We improved the robustness of retrying failed uploads: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/265

Here is a list of all issues closed in November 2024: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aclosed+...

*### OONI Run*

Following the launch of OONI Run v2 in October 2024 ( https://ooni.org/post/2024-launch-ooni-run-v2/), we prioritized monitoring the performance of the recently released application throughout November 2024 to ensure there were no notable measurement drops or other issues. We also responded to questions and feedback from the community.

*### OONI Explorer and general frontend*

As part of our efforts to advance the OONI Probe multi-platform project, we created and improved dedicated mobile views of OONI Explorer measurement detail pages that can be consumed by the new mobile applications. Using mobile views for the measurement details view helped us to improve our development speed for this particular feature.

This work is documented through the following tickets: https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/962 https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/960 https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/961

As part of our efforts to consolidate frontend deployment patterns, we ensured that ooni.org was deployable on Vercel: https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/1630

*### OONI Backend Maintenance & DevOps*

In addition to the typical long-running background tasks to maintain our backend infrastructure, we:

* Helped the mobile team investigate an issue that was happening with the new multi- platform applications: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/257 * Investigated and addressed an issue with our fallback DNS settings that was impacting the measurement API endpoints and resulted in errors on OONI Explorer: https://github.com/ooni/sysadmin/pull/521 * Monitored and responded to an incident where a bad actor was spoofing our IP address, likely in an attempt to have one of our servers taken down. This was perpetrated by the same people who were attempting something similar with Tor: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/tpa/team/-/issues/41840 * Added API documentation for OONI Run and the OONI Findings API: https://github.com/ooni/docs/pull/7 * Added a nginx-based reverse proxy to improve our backend service architecture: https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/894

*## Hiring process for a backend developer*

As part of our ongoing search to hire another backend developer for OONI ( https://ooni.org/post/2024-job-opening-ooni-backend-developer/), we continued to review incoming applications, follow up with candidates, and interview shortlisted candidates.

*## OONI partner workshop series*

In support of our global network of partners (https://ooni.org/partners), we facilitated an online workshop series with the goal of sharing skills and knowledge for censorship measurement research. In November 2024, we facilitated 2 workshops for our partners.

Specifically, OONI’s Elizaveta facilitated the following workshops for our partners:

* OONI Run v2: Features of the new release (7th November 2024) * Using the Test Lists Editor (20th November 2024)

*## Published PDFs for Kazakhstan research report*

Thanks to the design provided by Ura Design, we published PDFs for the English and Russian versions of our recent research report on internet censorship in Kazakhstan.

The PDFs of the research report are available in:

* English: https://ooni.org/documents/OONI-Report-Kazakhstan-2024-English.pdf * Russian: https://ooni.org/documents/OONI-Report-Kazakhstan-2024-Russian.pdf

*## Miaan Group podcast*

In early November 2024, OONI’s Maria provided an interview to our partner, Miaan Group (https://ooni.org/partners/miaan/), for their podcast. As part of this podcast, Maria shared information about OONI tools with Iranian communities.

*## Collaboration with agency to boost OONI’s social media presence*

We continued to collaborate with Latte (https://www.lattecreative.com/en/), an agency in Rome which supports organizations (including many nonprofit organizations, such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace) on improving their communication, branding, advocacy, and fundraising efforts. We collaborated with Latte on using Google ads to promote OONI’s work, as well as on creating a digital strategy to improve OONI’s communication and social media presence.

*## Rapid response### Blocking of Telegram in Kenya during KCSE 2024 exams*

On 7th November 2024, Kenya blocked access to Telegram amid the KCSE 2024 exams. We responded by sharing relevant OONI data through social media channels: https://x.com/OpenObservatory/status/1855021971672907842

We also shared OONI data on the blocking of Telegram in Kenya with the #KeepItOn advocacy community.

It’s worth noting that Kenya also blocked access to Telegram last year, during the KCSE 2023 exams, which we documented in the following report: https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/228466228201

*## Community use of OONI data### Launch of a project on website censorship in France*

On 15th November 2024, community members Etienne Maynier and taziden launched a new project which documents website censorship in France through legal and technical analysis. The technical analysis of their research project makes use of OONI data to document website blocks in France, and they share an OONI Run v2 link to encourage further testing.

Learn more here: https://censxres.fr/

*### ISOC Pulse report on social media blocks in Mauritius*

Internet Society (ISOC) published a report documenting the social media blocks in Mauritius ahead of the country’s 2024 elections. As part of this report, they cite OONI data, include an OONI Explorer chart illustrating the blocks, and encourage readers in Mauritius to contribute more measurements through the use of OONI Probe.

Their report is available here: https://pulse.internetsociety.org/shutdowns/mauritius-orders-blocking-of-soc...

*### ISOC Pulse report on internet outages and blocks in Mozambique*

Internet Society (ISOC) published a report documenting mobile internet outages and social media blocks in Mozambique amid protests. As part of this report, they cite OONI data, include OONI Explorer charts, and provide a custom OONI Run v2 link to encourage further testing.

Their report is available here: https://pulse.internetsociety.org/shutdowns/mobile-internet-suspended-in-moz...

*### Human Rights Watch article on internet restrictions in Mozambique*

Human Rights Watch published an article on the post-election internet restrictions in Mozambique, citing OONI data. Their article is available here: https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/11/06/mozambique-post-election-internet-restri...

*## Community activities### IETF 121 Dublin*

Between 2nd to 5th November 2024, OONI’s Arturo attended the IETF 121 in Dublin (https://www.ietf.org/live/ietf121-plenary/). As part of his participation, Arturo attended an event organized by the Public Interest Working Group. He engaged in conversations around standards and how work can be done to orient them more in the public interest. During the IETF he connected with people working on Encrypted Client Hello and discussed some of the upcoming work on anonymous credentials which are being standardized as part of BBS. Finally, it was an opportunity to meet and engage industry players who are working on topics that have an impact on digital rights.

*### OONI training session at Internet Shutdown training for journalists, activists and election observers in Tanzania*

On 5th November 2024, as part of the Internet Shutdown training – organized by our partners, Zaina Foundation ( https://ooni.org/partners/zaina-foundation/) and Access Now ( https://ooni.org/partners/access-now/) – for journalists, activists and election observers in Tanzania, OONI’s Elizaveta facilitated a training session on how to use OONI Probe and OONI Explorer to investigate internet censorship in Tanzania.

*### OONI presentation for Masters students at the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI)*

On 6th November 2024, OONI’s Arturo presented OONI tools and methods to computer science Masters students at the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) in Berlin, Germany (https://hpi.de/en/). During this lesson, he provided an overview of methods for measuring the internet to map information controls.

*### Falling Walls Science Summit 2024*

On 7th November 2024, OONI’s Arturo participated as a panelist at the Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin (https://falling-walls.com/). His panel discussed the topic of Digital Walls and how to overcome them. The fellow panelists were Peter Limbourg (General Director of DW), Patryk Pawlak (European University Institute), and Sabine Frank (Google).

Following the panel, Arturo was interviewed by DW, who published the interview here: https://www.dw.com/en/how-to-circumvent-online-censorship/video-70781938

*### OONI presentation at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University*

On 19th November 2024, OONI’s Maria presented OONI tools and methods to the Berkman Klein Center community at Harvard University ( https://cyber.harvard.edu/) as part of a session on “How to investigate internet censorship with OONI tools and data”.

*### State of the Onion 2024*

On 20th November 2024, OONI’s Arturo presented OONI highlights from 2024 and upcoming plans for 2025 as part of the Tor Project’s annual State on the Onion Community event ( https://blog.torproject.org/event/2024-state-of-the-onion/).

Watch the presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/live/EODNtLqD7f8

*### OONI Community Meeting*

On 26th November 2024, we hosted the monthly OONI Community Meeting on our Slack channel (https://slack.ooni.org/).

As part of this meeting, we discussed new features of the OONI Run v2 release. We also discussed how existing OONI data can be used to explore different kinds of censorship, such as geo-blocking and server-side blocking.

*## Measurement coverage*

In November 2024, 48,385,672 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 2,839 networks in 170 countries around the world.

This information can also be found through our measurement stats on OONI Explorer (see chart on “monthly coverage worldwide”): https://explorer.ooni.org/

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