[ooni-talk] Myanmar: Blocking of news media, social media, human rights site, and COVID-19 site

[Maria Xynou]

Hi,

We analyzed OONI data from Myanmar and we were able to confirm the
blocking of:

* Social media websites (such as twitter.com, facebook.com, instagram.com)

* News media websites (30 local Myanmar news outlets)

* A human rights website (https://www.justiceformyanmar.org/)

* A COVID-19 site (https://coronavirus.app/)

We are able to confirm the blocking of these sites because in OONI
network measurement data, we are able to see that ISPs in Myanmar are
implementing DNS based interference which returns IP addresses
(59.153.90.11, 167.172.4.60) that host block pages.

On some networks in Myanmar, there appears to be TCP/IP level
interference, suggesting IP based blocking.

You can find more details here:
https://gist.github.com/hellais/397af212f267757ab492534cd1bded85

Meanwhile, both WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger apps continue to be
blocked in Myanmar.

This is evident through OONI data:

* WhatsApp:
https://explorer.ooni.org/search?until=2021-02-14&since=2021-01-15&probe_cc=MM&test_name=whatsapp

* Facebook Messenger:
https://explorer.ooni.org/search?until=2021-02-14&since=2021-01-15&probe_cc=MM&test_name=facebook_messenger

In summary:

* Censorship appears to vary across networks (i.e. different sites are
blocked on different networks)

* Different ISPs in Myanmar appear to adopt different censorship
techniques (primarily DNS based interference returning a block page, and
what seems to be IP based blocking)

* Some ISPs in Myanmar are not blocking these sites and apps

We've also shared the above information through the following Twitter
thread: https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1360615643322724355

## Further testing

If you're in Myanmar and interested in testing blocked sites further,
you can:

1. Install the OONI Probe mobile app: https://ooni.org/install/mobile

2. Open this link with your OONI Probe mobile app:

https://run.ooni.io/nettest?tn=web_connectivity&ta=%7B%22urls%22%3A%5B%22https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fmobile.twitter.com%2FTwitter%3Fref_src%3Dtwsrc%255Egoogle%257Ctwcamp%255Eserp%257Ctwgr%255Eauthor%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fvideo.twimg.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fupload.twitter.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fshweyaunglan.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fcelemedia.club%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fitechmedia.info%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Frealthadin.com%2F%22%2C%22http%3A%2F%2Fshweman.website%2Fblogs%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fbarnyarbarnyar.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fthatinhman.com%2F%22%2C%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.phothutaw.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rohingyanewsbank.com%2F%22%2C%22http%3A%2F%2Fmedicalsharing.website%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chitsakar.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fmckzonecelebrity.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dmgburmese.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fsanthitsa.net%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fmmrednews.com%2F%22%2C%22http%3A%2F%2Fkarennews.org%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.justiceformyanmar.org%2F%22%2C%22http%3A%2F%2Ftrend.lwinpyin.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.narinjara.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fssppssa.org%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Ftipsmyanmarnews.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fnenow.in%2F%22%2C%22http%3A%2F%2Fburmachannel.website%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.messenger.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fcoronavirus.app%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fcoronavirus-map.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fmmsportmyanmar.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsvsinformation.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fmc.warnaing.website%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestateless.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fmaharmedianews.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.myanmarpress.com%2F%22%2C%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pslftnla.org%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.arakanarmy.net%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fhlatawtar.com%2F%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fmmtimenews.com%2F%22%2C%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.xnxx.com%22%5D%7D&mv=1.2.0

3. Tap "Run" (please ensure that your VPN is turned off when running tests)

You will then have access to the test results in your OONI Probe app.

Unless you opt out, test results will automatically get openly published
here:
https://explorer.ooni.org/search?until=2021-02-14&since=2021-01-15&probe_cc=MM&test_name=web_connectivity

Warm thanks & solidarity with all OONI Probe users in Myanmar!

Best,

Maria.

-- 
Maria Xynou
Research & Partnerships Director
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E