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intrigeri's report, January 2025
by intrigeri 04 Feb '25

04 Feb '25

Hi, User-visible ============ I've reviewed and supported the work of my team-mates on a number of high priority user-visible improvements. User-invisible ============== Apart of the usual amount of KTLO work: - I've been coordinating the search for new maintainers for Metadata Cleaner: https://forum.torproject.org/t/metadata-cleaner-is-looking-for-a-new-co-mai… - I have automated some Git operations that were previously done manually every time we merged changes into our main development branch. - I have fixed several vulnerabilities that were found by Radically Open Security as part of their recent security audit of Tails. Sadly, some of them were similar to those found during their previous audit. We want to learn from this, stay tuned! - I created automation that ensures we won't reintroduce 1 of the types of vulnerability that were found during this audit. Team lead ========= - We, the Tails Team, have been working on our priorities for 2025 together with sajolida (UX). I'll publish a cleaned up version shortly. - I've learned how the grant reporting process works at Tor. - I've deleted or updated public documentation for Tails contributors that was made obsolete by the merge with Tor. Accounting ========== I've reviewed partial books from 1 of Tails' previous fiscal sponsors, as part of the transition to Tails' new nest, the Tor project. Cheers, -- intrigeri

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Nina’s Monthly Status Report, January, 2025
by Nina 03 Feb '25

03 Feb '25

Hi! Below is my January’25 report! In January, I resolved a total of 904 tickets, a decrease of 775 from the previous month (total: 1679): - RT (frontdesk@tpo) - 191 (↓28) - Telegram (@TorProjectSupportBot) - 712 (↓747) - WhatsApp (+447421000612) - 1 (1) - Signal (+17787431312) - 0 (0). My main focus in January (and always) was supporting Russian-speaking users in bypassing internet censorship. So I shared censorship circumvention instructions, helped users resolve any issues they are facing with Tor Browser, and collected their feedback on what worked for them and what didn’t. I also took part in Tor Forum moderation and worked on reviewing Google Play Store users' reviews. For the first in the last six months, we observed a decrease in support tickets from Russian-speaking users. Despite this decrease, the number of tickets is still higher than in July-2024, when new censorship activities by Roskomnadzor were detected[1]. I created a new ticket to track censorship in Russia in 2025[2]. ## Elections in Belarus In January there were Presidential Elections in Belarus [3]. On the eve of the elections many VPN services and websites were blocked in the country [4]. It seems Tor remained accessiblewith bridges[5],however some users reported difficulties in finding working bridges. *##**Google Play Reviews for Tor Browser**(TBA)**and Tor Browser Alpha**for Android* - Tor Browser for Android (TBA) had a Google Play rating of 4.389 (↑) stars in January 2025, which is higher than in December. - Tor Browser for Android (TBA) got 774 (↑17) reviews out of 60,429 for the lifetime. - Tor Browser for Android Alpha (TBA-Alpha) app had a rating of 4.219 (↓) which is lower than in December. - In January, Tor Browser for Android (TBA-Alpha) got 37 (0) reviews out of 8,448 for the lifetime. ## Most common issues on the Google Play store reviews - “Tor Browser doesn’t work”: - often from Russian users, who are struggling to find a way to connect to Tor; - “Tor speed is too slow”: I use a template asking to refresh the Tor circuit or contact Tor Browser support. In the reviews I also encountered an issue of Tor Browserfor Androidfreezes when used on Realme GT NEO 3 smartphone[6]. [1] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/censorship-analysis/-/iss… [2] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/censorship-analysis/-/iss… [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Belarusian_presidential_election [4] https://news.zerkalo.io/life/89461.html?tg=4 [5] https://metrics.torproject.org/userstats-bridge-combined.html?start=2024-10… <https://metrics.torproject.org/userstats-bridge-combined.html?start=2024-10…> [6] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/43444

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cve's monthly status report
by Clara Engler 03 Feb '25

03 Feb '25

Hello tor-project@, the following contains a summary of the work that I have done in January 2025. ## onionmasq * Integration test for the isolation cookie feature * Requires the use of connected UDP for the existing tests * Wrote unit test for the `config` module * Wrote unit test for the `scaffolding` module * Added IPv6 integration tests alongside all existing IPv4 integration tests * This achieves a full dual-stack testing environment * Added a feature to disable file system permission checks * This feature is crucial for CI integration * Fixed a bug in the arti documentation alongside * **Added integration tests to CI** * Many thanks to micah@ for providing a privileged container * Gives reproducible coverage numbers which is great, currently at >80% * Replaced loopback IP addresses in the integration test suite with real but private IPs * Replaces `127.0.0.1` with `172.23.39.177/12` * Replaces `::1` with `fd5b:955e:ad4d::` * Both IPs have no deep meaning and were randomly generated, with input given by Diziet * Disabled the use of namespaces in CI, as isolation makes no sense there * Fixed a clippy warning * Upgraded various dependencies * More or less finished providing basic test infrastructure * We are currently slightly above 80% coverage, doing more is possible, but probably not sustainable, due to the logarithmic nature of increasing test coverage ## oniux * Began working on a very new prototype for replacing `torsocks` with a namespace based approach * This is still very much WIP, the design concept is done and I am currently working on a prototype * It is open space and I will keep this mailing list informed about further progress * Name is also WIP 🙂 Thank You Clara

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Rhatto's Monthly Status Report, January 2025
by rhatto 03 Feb '25

03 Feb '25

Hi all :) This is my monthly status report for January 2025 with the main relevant activities I have done, was involved or are related to my work during the period. ## Onionbalance docs Onionbalance documentation was refactored and updated: https://onionservices.torproject.org/apps/base/onionbalance/ Highlights: * New Security page, thanks to Pascal Tippe: https://onionservices.torproject.org/apps/base/onionbalance/security/ * Added an API page: https://onionservices.torproject.org/apps/base/onionbalance/api/ * Removed the old v2 docs. ## Onionsite Checklist Improved the Onionsite Checklist with two new sections: * https://onionservices.torproject.org/apps/web/checklist/#general-advice * https://onionservices.torproject.org/apps/web/checklist/#incident-response ## Support Did the ongoing sponsored work with deployment, maintenance and monitoring of Onion Services. -- Silvio Rhatto pronouns he/him Festina lente -- move slow and fix things. I sent this message during my active hours, which might be different from yours. I'm fine if you take your time to answer, and usually takes some time for me to answer.

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Felicia's Montly Status Report, January 2025
by Priscila 03 Feb '25

03 Feb '25

Hi everyone, This is my status report for January 2025. I still have some tasks waiting for review, so the following list is about the new ones that I got to work this month: [1] Improve torconnect layouts for medium and expanded screen sizes: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/42429 [2] Decide what to do with the "Choose a bridge for me" button in Connection settings: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/42477 [3] Warn users about Connection Assist removing user-added bridges: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/42546 [4] Improve the flows for manually added bridges and their validation: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/41913 [5] Validate user added bridge lines on Android: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/42633 (related to task number 4) [6] Improve Android’s bridge settings UI: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/41187 Best, Priscila (aka Felicia) - UX Team

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PieroV's Monthly Status Report, January 2025
by Pier Angelo Vendrame 01 Feb '25

01 Feb '25

Hi everyone! Here is my status report for January 2025. At the beginning of this month, I continued fixing the letterboxing tests needed for the uplift process. There were several platform-specific failures, so I had to set up a Windows build and test environment for Firefox. It was the first time (we usually cross-compile Tor Browser), and it took me some time. Eventually, I got the Bug [0] to add some letterboxing exemptions landed. Then, I opened a stack of patches (authored by ma1) on Phabricator for the next Bug [1]. They have not been merged, yet, because some parts still need the desktop theme reviewers' approval. I also continued to help formalize the RR rebase process, and we merged the first version [2]. After that, I created the first MR to start this process, with the rebase of our patches onto Firefox 129 [3]. I checked the Firefox release calendar [4], and I suggested we keep a pace of one RR rebase every week. If we manage to, we will reach upstream by the end of March, with the rebase onto Firefox 138, and we will have some time in case we have problems with some versions since our objective is to be in sync with Firefox 129b1, which is scheduled for around the end of April. This month, I also tried to continue the fingerprinting fight effort, which involved some investigations that eventually resulted in small tasks. I started with v-sync on Wayland after we got an issue about possible refresh rate leaks [5]. Another task was controlling our macOS font allow list [6]. I had to verify some details in various macOS versions, and eventually, I will have to ask about Japanese fonts to Mozilla experts. Then, I started investigating why new windows are rounded incorrectly [7] and I briefly checked the overlay scrollbars [8]. Apart from this, I also helped with the regular releases. I rebased alpha onto 128.6.0esr at the beginning of the month, and I prepared the 14.5a2 release. Then, at the end of the month, I rebased stable and alpha onto 128.7.0esr and legacy onto 115.20.0esr. Finally, I started writing an uplift wish list for ESR 140 [9]. Best, Pier [0] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1555815 [1] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1556016 [2] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/merge_requests… [3] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/merge_requests… [4] https://whattrainisitnow.com/ [5] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/43236 [6] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/43378 [7] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/43205 [8] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/22137 [9] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/40789#n…

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Anti-censorship team meeting notes, 2025-01-30
by Shelikhoo 30 Jan '25

30 Jan '25

Hey everyone! Here are our meeting logs: http://meetbot.debian.net/tor-meeting/2025/tor-meeting.2025-01-30-16.00.html And our meeting pad: Anti-censorship work meeting pad -------------------------------- Anti-censorship -------------------------------- Next meeting: Thursday,Feb 02 16:00 UTC Facilitator: meskio ^^^(See Facilitator Queue at tail) Weekly meetings, every Thursday at 16:00 UTC, in #tor-meeting at OFTC (channel is logged while meetings are in progress) This week's Facilitator: shelikhoo == Goal of this meeting == Weekly check-in about the status of anti-censorship work at Tor. Coordinate collaboration between people/teams on anti-censorship at the Tor Project and Tor community. == Links to Useful documents == * Our anti-censorship roadmap: * Roadmap:https://gitlab.torproject.org/groups/tpo/anti-censorship/-/boards * The anti-censorship team's wiki page: * https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/team/-/wikis/home * Past meeting notes can be found at: * https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-project/ * Tickets that need reviews: from projects, we are working on: * All needs review tickets: * https://gitlab.torproject.org/groups/tpo/anti-censorship/-/merge_requests?s… * Project 158 <-- meskio working on it * https://gitlab.torproject.org/groups/tpo/anti-censorship/-/issues/?label_na… == Announcements == * snowflake-broker.azureedge.net is still working, a week after the announced shutdown date.(It still work at Jan 30) curl -s -i https://snowflake-broker.azureedge.net/amp/client/ == Discussion == == Actions == == Interesting links == * "Identifying VPN Servers through Graph-Represented Behaviors" * https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3589334.3645552 * https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3589334.3645552 * https://github.com/chenxuStep/VPNChecker == Reading group == * We will discuss "" on * * Questions to ask and goals to have: * What aspects of the paper are questionable? * Are there immediate actions we can take based on this work? * Are there long-term actions we can take based on this work? * Is there future work that we want to call out in hopes that others will pick it up? == Updates == Name: This week: - What you worked on this week. Next week: - What you are planning to work on next week. Help with: - Something you need help with. cecylia (cohosh): 2025-01-30 Last week: - debugged problem with tor conjure PT getting invalid addresses - https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-transports/conj… - reviewed conjure merge requests - made more improvements to phantombox, the conjure test environment This week: - support conjure work - take a look at potential snowflake orbot bug - https://github.com/guardianproject/orbot-android/issues/1183 - maybe do some lox work dcf: 2025-01-23 Last week: - tracked status of snowflake-broker.azureedge.net after announced date of Edgio shutdown https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-transports/snow… - helped debug reported "AMP cache rendezvous doesn't work in China" https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-transports/snow… Next week: - open issue to have snowflake-client log whenever KCPInErrors is nonzero https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-transports/snow… - parent: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-transports/snow… - open issue to disable /debug endpoint on snowflake broker Help with: meskio: 2024-01-30 Last week: - investigate issues on TorBrowser in Iran (tor-browser#43454) - config repositories in irc tor bot - grant writting and review Next week: - containarize rdsys Shelikhoo: 2024-01-30 Last Week: - [Refine] Unreliable+unordered WebRTC data channel transport for Snowflake rev2 (cont.)( https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-transports/snow… ) improvements - Merge request reviews Next Week/TODO: - Merge request reviews - [Test] Unreliable+unordered WebRTC data channel transport for Snowflake rev2 (cont.)( https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-transports/snow… ) improvements onyinyang: 2025-01-30 Last week(s): - Got conjure up and running locally! (Thanks cohosh!) - uTLS implemented for conjure - moved uTLS library to ptutil - started work on ampcache Next week: - continue on alternative registration methods (ampcache, sqs) - Add decoy registration option As time allows: - Continue work on implementing issuer efficiency for check-blockage and trust-promotion protocols - Work on outstanding milestone issues: - key rotation automation Later: pending decision on abandoning lox wasm in favour of some kind of FFI? https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/43096) - add pref to handle timing for pubkey checks in Tor browser - add trusted invitation logic to tor browser integration: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/42974 - improve metrics collection/think about how to show Lox is working/valuable - sketch out Lox blog post/usage notes for forum (long term things were discussed at the meeting!): - brainstorming grouping strategies for Lox buckets (of bridges) and gathering context on how types of bridges are distributed/use in practice Question: What makes a bridge usable for a given user, and how can we encode that to best ensure we're getting the most appropriate resources to people? 1. Are there some obvious grouping strategies that we can already consider? e.g., by PT, by bandwidth (lower bandwidth bridges sacrificed to open-invitation buckets?), by locale (to be matched with a requesting user's geoip or something?) 2. Does it make sense to group 3 bridges/bucket, so trusted users have access to 3 bridges (and untrusted users have access to 1)? More? Less? theodorsm: 2025-01-30 Last weeks: - Testing Tor Build with covert-dtls (troubleshooting becoming DTLS client with ICE and different NAT/host types). Next weeks: - Update covert-dtls to handle new DTLS extensions in recent browsers - Write instructions on how to configure covert-dtls with snowflake client - Fix merge conflicts in MR (https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-transports/snow…) - Condensing thesis into paper (on hold) Help with: - Test stability of covert-dtls in snowflake Facilitator Queue: meskio onyinyang shelikhoo 1. First available staff in the Facilitator Queue will be the facilitator for the meeting 2. After facilitating the meeting, the facilitator will be moved to the tail of the queue

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Anti-censorship team meeting notes, 2025-01-23
by onyinyang 23 Jan '25

23 Jan '25

Hey everyone! Here are our meeting logs: http://meetbot.debian.net/tor-meeting/2025/tor-meeting.2025-01-23-16.04.html And our meeting pad: Anti-censorship work meeting pad -------------------------------- Anti-censorship -------------------------------- Next meeting: Thursday,January 30 16:00 UTC Facilitator: shelikhoo ^^^(See Facilitator Queue at tail) Weekly meetings, every Thursday at 16:00 UTC, in #tor-meeting at OFTC (channel is logged while meetings are in progress) This week's Facilitator: onyinyang == Goal of this meeting == Weekly check-in about the status of anti-censorship work at Tor. Coordinate collaboration between people/teams on anti-censorship at the Tor Project and Tor community. == Links to Useful documents == * Our anti-censorship roadmap: * Roadmap:https://gitlab.torproject.org/groups/tpo/anti-censorship/-/boards * The anti-censorship team's wiki page: * https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/team/-/wikis/home * Past meeting notes can be found at: * https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-project/ * Tickets that need reviews: from projects, we are working on: * All needs review tickets: * https://gitlab.torproject.org/groups/tpo/anti-censorship/-/merge_requests?s… * Project 158 <-- meskio working on it * https://gitlab.torproject.org/groups/tpo/anti-censorship/-/issues/?label_na… == Announcements == * BridgeStatus's Snowflake bridge test output will change after deployment of * Use gitlab circumvention setting for snowflake bridge line update * https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/connectivity-measurement/… * Be sure to check if any automated script is still working correctly * snowflake-broker.azureedge.net is still working, a week after the announced shutdown date. curl -s -i https://snowflake-broker.azureedge.net/amp/client/ == Discussion == == Actions == == Interesting links == == Reading group == * We will discuss "" on * * Questions to ask and goals to have: * What aspects of the paper are questionable? * Are there immediate actions we can take based on this work? * Are there long-term actions we can take based on this work? * Is there future work that we want to call out in hopes that others will pick it up? == Updates == Name: This week: - What you worked on this week. Next week: - What you are planning to work on next week. Help with: - Something you need help with. cecylia (cohosh): 2025-01-23 Last week: - worked on some phantombox (conjure test environment) improvements - https://gitlab.torproject.org/cohosh/phantombox/-/issues/2 - fixups to switching to local storage for snowflake badges - https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-transports/snow… - some reviews and gitlab todos This week: - asn mapping geoip feature dcf: 2025-01-23 Last week: - tracked status of snowflake-broker.azureedge.net after announced date of Edgio shutdown https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-transports/snow… - helped debug reported "AMP cache rendezvous doesn't work in China" https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-transports/snow… Next week: - open issue to have snowflake-client log whenever KCPInErrors is nonzero https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-transports/snow… - parent: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-transports/snow… - open issue to disable /debug endpoint on snowflake broker Help with: meskio: 2024-01-23 Last week: - debug a segfault in country based metrics to the snowflake proxy (snowflake!482) - debug why metrics.torproject.org doesn't display distributor metrics (rdsys#235) - keep up with snowflake debian dependencies (snowflake#40410) - deploy onionsproutsbot (onionsproutsbot#66) - investigate why we distribute non working bridges (rdsys#254) - simple refactor fixes on rdsys bridge tests (rdsys!454) - review and update P146 report - triage the long queue of open issues (there are still some snowflake ones missing) Next week: - snowflake debian package Shelikhoo: 2024-01-23 Last Week: - [Pending] snowflake broker update/reinstall(cont.): https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-transports/snow… - [Awaiting Review] Unreliable+unordered WebRTC data channel transport for Snowflake rev2 (cont.)( https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-transports/snow… ) improvements - Merge request reviews - Automate bridgeline update for snowflake(https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/connectivity-me… ) - Use assume reachable for webtunnel bridges to avoid exporting OR port(https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/connectivity-measure… - Update readme to include migration notice (https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/docker-snowflake-proxy/-/… ) - Next Week/TODO: - Merge request reviews - [Resume] Unreliable+unordered WebRTC data channel transport for Snowflake rev2 (cont.)( https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-transports/snow… ) improvements - [Deployment] Automate bridgeline update for snowflake onyinyang: 2025-01-23 Last week(s): - Get conjure up and running (at least locally) - WIP Conjure stuff for Project 173 Next week: - Continue on getting conjure up and running (at least locally) - implement utls for conjure - start implementation of alternative registration methods As time allows: - Continue work on implementing issuer efficiency for check-blockage and trust-promotion protocols - Work on outstanding milestone issues: - key rotation automation Later: pending decision on abandoning lox wasm in favour of some kind of FFI? https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/43096) - add pref to handle timing for pubkey checks in Tor browser - add trusted invitation logic to tor browser integration: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/42974 - improve metrics collection/think about how to show Lox is working/valuable - sketch out Lox blog post/usage notes for forum (long term things were discussed at the meeting!): - brainstorming grouping strategies for Lox buckets (of bridges) and gathering context on how types of bridges are distributed/use in practice Question: What makes a bridge usable for a given user, and how can we encode that to best ensure we're getting the most appropriate resources to people? 1. Are there some obvious grouping strategies that we can already consider? e.g., by PT, by bandwidth (lower bandwidth bridges sacrificed to open-invitation buckets?), by locale (to be matched with a requesting user's geoip or something?) 2. Does it make sense to group 3 bridges/bucket, so trusted users have access to 3 bridges (and untrusted users have access to 1)? More? Less? theodorsm: 2025-01-22 (AFK for meeting 01-23) Last weeks: - Testing Tor Build with covert-dtls Next weeks: - Update covert-dtls to handle new DTLS extensions in recent browsers - Write instructions on how to configure covert-dtls with snowflake client - Fix merge conflicts in MR (https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-transports/snow…) - Condensing thesis into paper (on hold) Help with: - Test stability of covert-dtls in snowflake Facilitator Queue: meskio onyinyang shelikhoo 1. First available staff in the Facilitator Queue will be the facilitator for the meeting 2. After facilitating the meeting, the facilitator will be moved to the tail of the queue -- --- onyinyang GPG Fingerprint 3CC3 F8CC E9D0 A92F A108 38EF 156A 6435 430C 2036

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Haidi December24 Report
by haidis＠riseup.net 22 Jan '25

22 Jan '25

Hi! Below is my December’24 report! I have many onboarding sessions with colleagues from different teams. Some sessions for contract process, configuring Tor needed application and setup the user’s name and passwords, training some applications. I have become familiar with the projects, documents and internal policies of Tor Project. In December, I resolved 7 tickets: * On Telegram (@TorProjectSupportBot) - 7; * On RT (frontdesk@tpo) - 0; Translated censorship-circumvention text module and article to Persian[1] [1] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/community/support/-/issues/40177 This is the pad link for my report : https://pad.riseup.net/p/Haidi-Report-December2024-keep Best, Haidi

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OONI Monthly Report: December 2024
by Maria Xynou 16 Jan '25

16 Jan '25

Hello, This email shares OONI's monthly report for December 2024. *# OONI Monthly Report: December 2024* Throughout December 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. *## Published new research report on independent media censorship in Russia* On 9th December 2024, in collaboration with RKS Global (https://rks.global/) we co-published a new research report on the systematic suppression of independent media in Russia. Our report is available in both: * English: https://ooni.org/post/2024-russia-report/ * Russian: https://ooni.org/ru/post/2024-russia-report/ RKS Global published a summary of the findings (along with recommendations) in both: * English: https://rks.global/en/research/chronicles/ * Russian: https://rks.global/research/chronicles/ Our findings are based on OONI data analysis and interviews with 15 independent Russian news media organizations. Our analysis of OONI data from Russia shows pervasive levels of news media censorship. We automatically confirmed the blocking of 279 news media domains -- including foreign and numerous independent Russian news media websites. Most blocks are implemented by means of TLS interference. As we observe the same pattern of TLS level interference in the vast majority of measurements collected from numerous networks during the same date range, OONI data suggests that these news media blocks are likely centrally managed by Roskomnadzor through the use of TSPU. Through interviews, independent Russian media organizations shared the following main challenges: * Financial and security challenges * Reduced ability to cover events in Russia * Partial loss of Russian audiences * Growing self-censorship * Closure of media organizations Despite the challenges, independent Russian media organizations remain resilient. The increased threats strengthened solidarity and cooperation among media outlets, and they have demonstrated a high level of adaptation to circumvent blocks and reach their audiences. Yet, international support is needed to strengthen the fight for press freedom in Russia. Our report received the following coverage: https://therecord.media/russia-doubles-blocking-access-independent-media-si… https://roskomsvoboda.org/ru/post/russia-censorship-pressure-independent-me… Our report was also shared widely on Telegram channels by Russian communities: https://t.me/roskomsvoboda/13149 https://t.me/ru_tech_talk/624 https://t.me/cybersarik/1428 https://t.me/airfield1972/3746 https://t.me/chertamedia/6974 https://t.me/zatelecom/29370 *## Presenting thematic censorship findings on OONI Explorer* Notably, we have completed the core development work for the new OONI Explorer thematic censorship findings pages and we have started internal testing and polishing of the pages in preparation for the upcoming launch. Based on internal testing of the new pages, we discussed and reviewed the initial feedback, and created additional mockups to improve the UX for several sections (“Reports” and “Findings”) of these new pages. We also worked towards implementing several other improvements based on feedback that emerged from internal testing in preparation for the launch. *## Automating censorship detection and characterization based on OONI measurements* In December 2024, we made steady progress on getting the new pipeline deployed into production. As part of this, we decided to switch from temporal to airflow for orchestration. Eventually, airflow will also be useful for replacing the scheduling of all other periodic tasks (which currently are done through systemd timers). We added support for deploying airflow here: https://github.com/ooni/devops/pull/132 *## Activities supported by OTF FOSS### OONI Explorer* We fixed a bug that was impacting the search feature on the OONI Explorer country pages, preventing users from searching in languages other than English: https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/975 *### OONI Probe Engine* In the days leading up to the 2nd Open Measurement Gathering in Atlanta, we held an OONI developer meeting to brainstorm and discuss efforts around simplifying the OONI Probe measurement engine. The goals of this work are: * Simplify or eliminate the forks of go/crypto and go/http * Make it possible to not have to release engine versions so often by externalize the geoIP dependencies outside of the engine * Expose an API that’s more “useful” to mobile developers * Merge OONI Run v2 with richer testing input related work * Solve the integration of rust libraries (such as arti) * Reduce the overall OONI Probe engine codebase * Reduce the number of ways we write OONI Probe experiments As part of this, we outlined the work necessary to separate pieces of the engine that are related to speaking to our backend services from those that are related to running experiments. *### OONI Probe Mobile* We shipped OONI Probe Android 4.0.2 which fixed a bug that involved performance tests being included in autoruns ( https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2831) As part of our ongoing work on our multi-platform project that aims to refactor the OONI Probe mobile applications, we fixed a bug where the app would get “stuck” after a manual upload ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/334) and we made some small UX tweaks to ensure consistency between the current and future versions of the OONI probe applications ( https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/323, https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues/321) Here is a list of all issues closed in December 2024: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aclosed… *### OONI Backend Maintenance & DevOps* We handled an issue related to incorrect handling of X-Forwarded-For headers in the api.ooni.org endpoint ( https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/901) This was causing issues to users that were using particular browser extensions when attempting to access certain pages on OONI Explorer. *## Hiring process for a backend developer* We completed the hiring process for a backend developer ( https://ooni.org/post/2024-job-opening-ooni-backend-developer/) and we made offers to 2 backend developers. *## Launched News Media Scan app with Deutsche Welle on iOS* 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. We previously launched the Android version of the News Media Scan app in October 2023 (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dw.ooniprobe ). In December 2024, we launched the News Media Scan app on iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/news-media-scan/id6738992797 This is our first multi-platform application in production. *## Test list updates* We updated the Global test list to include targets related to measuring the DNSSEC root key rollover (https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1883) and we reviewed and merged several pull requests contributed by community members ( https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pulls?q=is%3Apr+is%3Aclosed+) *## Research and data analysis for upcoming research reports* We worked on the data analysis required for an upcoming research report on internet censorship in Bangladesh: https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/848 We also coordinated with our partner, Miaan Group, who contributed more websites to the Iranian and Global test lists: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1884 *## Community use of OONI data### Internet shutdown tracking system developed by ISOC Pulse Research Fellow* An ISOC Pulse Research Fellow has developed a new Internet shutdown tracking system that retrieves data from several sources, including OONI, IODA, Cloudflare Radar, and the Google Transparency Report. Learn more here: https://pulse.internetsociety.org/blog/developing-a-holistic-approach-to-me… *## Community-led presentations### Presentation on web censorship in France* On 4th December 2024, community members Etienne Maynier and taziden presented their research on internet censorship in France, through which they presented results from their analysis of OONI data. Information about this presentation is available here: https://censxres.fr/blog/pr%C3%A9sentation-sur-la-censure-le-4-d%C3%A9cembr… *## Community activities### SplinterCon Berlin 2024* Between 9th to 11th December 2024, OONI’s Elizaveta traveled to Berlin, Germany, to attend SplinterCon (https://splintercon.net/berlin/) As part of her participation, Elizaveta presented OONI’s latest report on media censorship in Russia (https://ooni.org/post/2024-russia-report/) and participated in multiple discussions about censorship in the region. *### 2nd Open Measurement Gathering* Between 10th-12th December 2024, OONI’s Arturo, Mehul, Jessie, and Maria attended the 2nd Open Measurement Gathering (OMG) at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, USA (https://x.com/OpenObservatory/status/1869829395701215334) This event brought together internet measurement projects (OONI, IODA, Censored Planet, M-Lab) to exchange skills and knowledge. We also had the opportunity to have guest participants from Sinar Project ( https://sinarproject.org/) Access Now (https://www.accessnow.org/) and internet measurement expert, Jim Cowie. As part of our participation, we: * Presented OONI highlights from 2024 and OONI plans for 2025 * Shared OONI data workflows based on case studies from Cuba * Presented OONI’s methodology for measuring throttling * Presented OONI’s latest data processing pipeline (OONI Pipeline v5) to collect feedback from internet measurement experts * Facilitated a session comparing the pipelines of different internet measurement projects * Facilitated a session on anomaly detection and shared OONI’s work on building a Social Media Censorship Alert System * Facilitated a session on GeoIP/AS database consolidation and discussion of next steps * Shared OONI’s partnership experience and lessons learned during a session on “partner structures” In the days leading up to the Open Measurement Gathering, we had a team “hackathon” on work related to the OONI backend and measurement engine, which helped with improving our related roadmaps and plans. On 13th December 2024, following the Open Measurement Gathering, we worked out of Georgia Tech to brainstorm on and discuss some of our upcoming projects. *## Measurement coverage* In December 2024, 47,018,051 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 2,742 networks in 169 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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