Hello,

Below is OONI's monthly report for May 2019.

## Beta release of revamped OONI Explorer

Over the last year (thanks to Mozilla Open Source Support), we have been working on revamping OONI Explorer entirely.

The code for the next generation OONI Explorer is available here: https://github.com/ooni/explorer

This has involved re-writing all of the OONI Explorer codebase in react.js (using next.js), re-designing the platform entirely to improve its UX, creating a more powerful search tool (which required a series of improvements to the OONI data processing pipeline), and adding a number of new features (based on community requests).

In January 2019, we conducted a usability study with several experienced OONI Explorer users to collect their feedback in the more initial stages of design and development.

We released a beta of the revamped OONI Explorer in April 2019. The beta of the revamped OONI Explorer is available here: https://explorer-beta.ooni.io/

In May 2019, we engaged our partners and community members with beta testing and spent the month addressing bugs and making improvements in preparation for the upcoming stable release.

If you notice any bugs or issues, please file Github tickets or send an email to bugs@openobservatory.org.

## Beta release of OONI Probe Command Line Interface (CLI) and Desktop App

We released the first beta of the OONI Probe desktop app for Windows and macOS: https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/releases/tag/v3.0.0-beta.3

We also released a new beta of the OONI Probe CLI: https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/releases/tag/v3.0.0-beta.3

If you notice any bugs or issues, please file Github tickets or send an email to bugs+desktop@openobservatory.org.

## New measurement engine in Go

Measurement Kit (https://github.com/measurement-kit) is our measurement library that powers the OONI Probe (mobile and desktop) apps. In May 2019, we started writing a new measurement engine in Go to better support the integration of new nettests (such as the new OONI Probe test for Psiphon) and to generally improve its agility.

The code for this engine is available here: https://github.com/ooni/probe-engine

As of 31st May 2019, this new engine contains code to communicate with OONI servers and two nettests implemented in Go: ndt7 and Psiphon (discussed below). This new engine also includes code for exporting Measurement Kit network tests to Go code.

## ndt7 test

ndt7 is a next generation speed test that will replace the NDT test currently included in the OONI Probe mobile app.

In May 2019, we finished writing the ndt7 client (see https://github.com/m-lab/ndt7-client-go/pull/4) and integrating it into ooni/probe-engine.

## Psiphon test

The ooni/probe-engine uses the Psiphon client library to implement a new nettest which checks whether Psiphon is able to create a tunnel and whether this tunnel could be used to fetch web resources over the internet.

See: https://github.com/ooni/probe-engine/tree/master/experiment/psiphon

## OONI Probe mobile app

In preparation for the 2.1.0 release, we made a series of improvements to the OONI Probe mobile apps.

On Android:

https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/226 https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/227 https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/228 https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/230

On iOS:

https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/pull/276 https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/pull/277 https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/pull/278 https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/pull/279 https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/pull/280 https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/pull/281

## Report on blocking of Wikipedia in China

In collaboration with Taiwan's Open Culture Foundation (OCF) and China's iYouPort, we published a report on the blocking of all Wikipedia language editions in China: https://ooni.torproject.org/post/2019-china-wikipedia-blocking/

Thanks to our local collaborators, we were also able to publish a Chinese version of the report on our site: https://ooni.torproject.org/post/2019-china-wikipedia-blocking.zh/

The report was also published by iYouPort: https://www.iyouport.org/2019-china-wikipedia-blocking/

The report received press coverage from the following:

* BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48269608

* TIME: http://time.com/5589439/china-wikipedia-online-censorship/

* The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/05/15/china-bans-wikipedia-all-...

* CNET: https://www.cnet.com/news/the-great-firewall-of-china-blocks-off-wikipedia/

* National Post: https://nationalpost.com/news/world/china-bans-wikipedia-before-30th-anniver...

* NewTalk Taiwan: https://newtalk.tw/news/view/2019-05-15/246945

* Liberty Times Net: https://ec.ltn.com.tw/article/breakingnews/2791325

* Solidot podcast (Chinese website): https://www.solidot.org/story?sid=60516

* Alternatywa: https://alternatywa.net.pl/chiny-zaczely-blokowac-wikipedie-w-kazdym-jezyku/

* La Revue Internationale: https://www.revue-internationale.com/2019/05/wikipedia-censure-en-chine/

OONI's Arturo discussed the blocking of Wikipedia in China (and Turkey) with ABC Radio Australia: https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/pm/wikipedia-takes-turkey-to-european-...

The Top10VPN site also published an article covering our research: https://www.top10vpn.com/news/censorship/all-language-editions-of-wikipedia-...

## Report on internet censorship in Nigeria

In collaboration with our Nigerian partners, Paradigm Initiative, we co-published a research report measuring network interference during Nigeria's 2019 general elections.

Our joint research report is available via the following sites:     * OONI: https://ooni.io/post/2019-nigeria-internet-censorship/ (includes full OONI analysis)     * Paradigm Initiative: https://paradigmhq.org/download/the-2019-nigerian-elections-through-the-lens... (includes full PDF - but with summary of OONI analysis)

### Blocking of social media in Indonesia

During post-election protests, access to social media was reportedly blocked in Indonesia.

We coordinated with local community members on OONI Probe tests and confirmed the blocking of WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Telegram by means of DNS on some ISPs.

We also found that it was possible to circumvent the blocks by enabling encrypted DNS.

We generated a chart based on our data analysis, which we shared with the community: https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1131207330366992384

We also shared our analysis used to produce the chart: https://gist.github.com/hellais/0166d1059d4055057b25b2f6ceddda76

## Community use of OONI data

### Report on blocking of thousands of websites in Egypt

AFTE, our Egyptian partners, published a research report on the collateral blocking of thousands of websites in Egypt: https://afteegypt.org/en/digital_freedoms-2/publications_digital_freedoms-di...

The use of OONI Probe and OONI data supported this research.

### Report comparing internet censorship in Russia and Crimea during election period

OTF Information Controls Fellows Ksenia Ermoshina and Igor Valentovitch carried out research examining internet censorship in Russia and Crimea through the use of OONI Probe and OONI data.

Their research report, "Measuring Internet Censorship in Disputed Areas: An examination of online media filtering in Russia and Crimea during the 2018 Russian presidential elections", is published on the OTF website: https://www.opentech.fund/news/exploring-online-media-filtering-during-2018-...

## Community activities

### Media for Democracy Forum

OONI's Arturo traveled to Washington, DC, to participate at the Media for Democracy Forum (organized by USAGM) on 7th May 2019.

Arturo presented OONI and discussed media censorship on the panel "New and Emerging Threats to Media Freedom: What's Next?".

Information about the event is available here: https://www.usagm.gov/2019/05/07/media-for-democracy-forum/

### Global Media Forum

OONI's Arturo and Maria traveled to Bonn, Germany, to participate at the Global Media Forum (organized by Deutsche Welle) on 27th & 28th May 2019.

Information about the event is available here: https://dw-global-media-forum.com/

### Community meeting

We held the monthly OONI community meeting on our Slack channel (https://slack.openobservatory.org/) on Friday, 31st May 2019.

As part of the meeting, we discussed issues related to failed measurements and (accessing and sharing relevant) logs, as well as strategies and next steps in better supporting OONI Probe users who run into networking issues.

We also shared updates with regards to OONI's new system for sharing the OONI metadb with third parties, recent research reports, and upcoming sessions at RightsCon.

## Userbase

In May 2019, OONI Probe was run 355,293 times from 5,159 different vantage points in 215 countries around the world.

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

~ OONI team.