Hello Tor world,

In September 2018, the OONI team released a beta of the OONI Probe desktop apps for Windows and macOS, established a new partnership with Paraguay's TEDIC and updated a number of test lists.

## Beta of OONI Probe desktop app

We have released a beta of the OONI Probe desktop apps for Windows and macOS: https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/releases/tag/v3.0.0-beta.1

The aim of this beta release is mostly to sort out stability issues related with shipping measurement-kit and the new OONI Probe CLI on macOS and Linux. We are therefore currently limiting the testing to more tech-savvy users. As the UI of the desktop app has yet to be finalized, the most useful feedback currently pertains to the functionality of the app and any bugs (rather than the UI).

That said, the application is feature complete and supports the same functionality shipped as part of the mobile apps. Namely it supports:

* Running the websites, instant messagging, middleboxes and performance tests * Viewing the test results for all the above tests * An onboarding wizard with our informed consent procedure * Changing some of the most basic app settings

Help in testing the apps is greatly appreciated! If you run into any issues, please report them to bugs@openobservatory.org.

You should also use the "Hard reset" button in the About of the app before installing the stable version of the app. If you run into any issues, that button may be a viable workaround (note: it will delete all your measurements and settings).

## Established new partnership

We are excited to have formally established a new partnership with Paraguay's TEDIC!

As part of our new partnership, we aim to collaborate on the study of internet censorship in Paraguay through the collection and analysis of OONI Probe network measurements.

Social media announcement: https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1042760192197373952

## Updated test lists

We carried out research to update the following test lists:

1. Nigeria: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/387

2. Jordan: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/388

3. Argentina: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/390

4. Colombia: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/393

In previous months, we also updated the South Sudan test list: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/366

We also updated the Ugandan and global test lists (https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/391), and created new test lists for Cameroon (https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/392) and Greece (https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/394).

## Community use of OONI data

### Berkman report on Telegram blocking in Iran

The Berkman Centre for Internet and Society published a research report examining the blocking of Telegram in Iran: https://thenetmonitor.org/bulletins/censorship-and-collateral-damage-analyzi...

OONI data on the blocking of Telegram was used as part of this research.

### Digital Security Lab Ukraine reports

Through the use of OONI Probe, Digital Security Lab Ukraine has been investigating internet censorship in occupied territories of Ukraine.

In September 2018, they published two research reports based on OONI data:     1. Blocking of websites in Crimea (that aren't included in the Russian blocklist): https://medium.com/@cyberlabukraine/crimea-has-a-website-ban-list-additional...

Digital Security Lab Ukraine uncovered the blocking of at least eight Ukrainian websites in Crimea that aren't included in Russia's official blocklist.

This research was covered by RosKomSvoboda (a public organization aimed at countering internet censorship): https://roskomsvoboda.org/41726/

2. Blocking of at least 56 Ukrainian websites in Luhansk: https://medium.com/@cyberlabukraine/at-least-56-ukrainian-websites-are-block...

Digital Security Lab Ukraine uncovered the blocking of at least 56 Ukrainian websites in Luhansk, many of which include media websites and human rights sites. It's worth noting though that they did not find evidence of internet censorship in Donetsk.

## Community activities

### Community meeting

We held a community meeting on Slack (https://slack.openobservatory.org/) on Tuesday, 25th September 2018.

As part of our September community meeting, we discussed updating test lists and digging through OONI data.

### OONI presentation at CryptoInstallFest

OONI's Leonid gave a presentation in Moscow at CryptoInstallFest on his findings regarding recent internet censorship events in Russia.

* Slides: https://slides.ooni.io/2018/CIF

* Summary of new findings: https://usher2.club/articles/mt-free-pre-block/

* Information about the event: https://cryptofest.ru/agenda

Relevant media coverage:     * (en) https://en.crimerussia.com/gromkie-dela/wi-fi-in-moscow-underground-used-for... * https://www.the-village.ru/village/city/news-city/326087-maxima-vs-telegram * https://www.the-village.ru/village/city/news-city/326091-maxima-vs-telegram-... * https://roem.ru/28-09-2018/273997/fil-kulin-opisal-mehanizm-dobavleniya-v-ne... * https://tjournal.ru/77024-ekspert-maksimatelekom-pomogaet-roskomnadzoru-blok...

### Tor Meeting & OONI Team Meeting

The OONI team traveled to Mexico City to participate in the bi-annual Tor Meeting between 29th September 2018 to 3rd October 2018: https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/org/meetings/2018MexicoCity

As part of the invite-only days of the Tor Meeting, OONI facilitated the following sessions:

* Censorship Rapid Response: Brainstorming on collaboration between OONI and Tor and determining next steps * Future and next steps for BridgeDB * OONI data format pain management * Tor anti-censorship strategy brainstorming and next steps

As part of the public days, we facilitated an OONI session that aimed to introduce locals to OONI Probe and engage them with censorship measurement research. We also had a UX review of the revamped OONI Probe for Android mockups with the Tor UX Team, where we gathered valuable feedback. You can see the mockups here: http://design.ooni.io/mockups/probe-android

Following the Tor Meeting, the OONI team hosted its internal team meeting in Mexico City on 4th & 5th October 2018. As part of our 2-day internal meeting, we had the following sessions:     * Roadmap for the next 12 months (with more detailed roadmapping for the next 6 months) * Revamping OONI Probe mobile apps: Determining next steps towards stable release * Revamping OONI Explorer: Detailed roadmap & discussion of issues and next steps * OONI Probe desktop apps: Next steps * Brainstorming on new nettests * Probe Orchestration: Next Steps * OONI Partnership Program & community needs * Improving OONI Run & enabling automatic daily testing (until probe orchestration is rolled out) * Measurement-Kit: Future directions * Brainstorming on automating test list methodologies * Fundraising

## Userbase

In September 2018, OONI Probe was run 257,139 times from 4,661 different vantage points in 211 countries around the world.

This information can also be found through our stats: https://api.ooni.io/stats

~ The OONI team.