Hello,
I'm excited to share that we're hiring!
The OONI team (a non-profit fighting internet censorship) is looking for a
dedicated *mobile developer to work on OONI Probe*: a free software app
designed to measure internet censorship and network performance.
*Information about the job description, qualification requirements, and how
to apply* are available here:
https://ooni.org/post/2021-job-opening-ooni-mobile-developer/
This is a very exciting job opening because (if accepted) you will lead the
development of the OONI Probe mobile app, supporting human rights defenders
worldwide to investigate and fight internet censorship.
Launched in 2017, the OONI Probe mobile app has more than 100k installs,
and is run by tens of thousands of users in around 200 countries and
territories every month.
OONI Probe provides human rights defenders a user-friendly way to detect
and collect evidence of internet censorship.
This is a *full-time 12-month contract position* (which may be extended),
starting ASAP.
This is a *fully remote position*. We encourage applications from anywhere
in the world!
The application deadline is *Sunday, 31st October 2021*.
Please help spread the word and help us find someone who can best serve the
internet freedom community!
Thank you,
OONI team.
Hello,
The OONI team warmly welcomes you to join us tomorrow for our monthly
community meeting.
*=> Where? *OONI Slack channel: https://slack.ooni.org/ (bridged with IRC:
ircs://irc.oftc.net:6697/#ooni)
*=> When?* Tuesday, *26th October 2021 at 14:00 UTC* (for 1 hour)
Please add topics that you'd like to discuss during the meeting in this
pad: https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep
The monthly OONI community meetings aim to:
* Collect community feedback on OONI tools & methodologies
* Address questions in relation to the use of OONI tools and OONI data
* Foster discussions on internet censorship issues
* Receive updates from the community
We hope you can join us!
All the best,
~ OONI team
Hello,
The OONI team published a new research report which shares OONI data and
analysis on the *blocking of the Signal Private Messenger App in Iran,
China, Cuba, and Uzbekistan*.
Read the report here:
https://ooni.org/post/2021-how-signal-private-messenger-blocked-around-the-…
In April 2021, we released a new OONI Probe test for measuring the blocking
of the Signal Private Messenger App (https://ooni.org/nettest/signal). Since
then, OONI community members tested Signal worldwide every day,
contributing measurements as open data:
https://explorer.ooni.org/search?until=2021-10-23&since=2021-09-23&test_nam…
We analyzed all Signal measurements collected from around the world *between
April 2021 to September 2021*. During this period, we found that the
testing of Signal primarily presented signs of blocking in Iran, China,
Cuba, and Uzbekistan.
*# Summary of Findings*
*## Iran*
In Iran, Signal was *tested on 32 AS networks*, consistently presenting
signs of blocking on most networks.
The block primarily appears to be performed at a DNS level by returning the
IP address 10.10.34.35, which is commonly used to serve the Iranian
blockpage.
*## China*
In China, Signal was *tested on 28 AS networks*, consistently presenting
signs of blocking on most networks. Signal blocking is implemented at the
DNS level, returning IP addresses inside of random IP ranges.
China appears to block Signal by means of *bidirectional DNS injection*, as
suggested by the fact that DNS queries from outside the country also result
in injected responses, even though they target a publicly routed IP in
China that does not run a DNS server.
*## Cuba*
In Cuba, Signal was *temporarily blocked in mid-July 2021* amid
anti-government protests.
OONI measurements show that the TLS handshake to the Signal backend service
failed consistently with a connection_reset error, likely indicating the
use of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology targeting the SNI field of
the TLS handshake.
*## Uzbekistan*
In Uzbekistan, the testing of Signal presented *signs of blocking on 8 AS
networks*.
When attempting to perform a TLS handshake to all Signal backend services,
the connection constantly times out after writing the first data packet to
the network. This indicates that the blocking of Signal might be
implemented through the use of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology
configured to selectively drop packets.
*# Circumvention*
Currently, *circumvention is enabled by default* for Signal users in *Iran,
Egypt, Oman, Qatar & the UAE*. In our view, this should probably be enabled
for Signal users in Uzbekistan, China, and Cuba too.
Signal users in other countries can:
* On iOS -> Enable the “Censorship Circumvention” setting
* On Android -> Use Signal TLS proxies:
https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360056052052-Proxy-Support
You can help Android Signal users circumvent blocking (if they have a phone
number which is not from Iran, Egypt, Oman, Qatar & the UAE) by:
1. Running a Signal TLS proxy: https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-TLS-Proxy
2. Sharing the mobile deep link: https://signal.tube/#<your_host_name>
*# Ongoing measurement*
You can also help monitor the blocking of Signal by running OONI Probe (
https://ooni.org/install/) and contributing measurements (
https://explorer.ooni.org/search?until=2021-10-23&since=2021-09-23&test_nam…)
as open data.
We thank OONI Probe users who contributed measurements, supporting this
study.
We also thank Signal for their tireless efforts in bringing end-to-end
encryption to the masses worldwide.
Please help share this study:
https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1451482874264309763
Thanks for reading!
Best,
OONI team.
Hello,
Throughout September 2021, the OONI team worked on the following sprints:
* Sprint 47 - Caribbean Reef Octopus (1st - 12th September 2021)
* Sprint 48 - Amazon river dolphin (13th - 26th September 2021)
Our work can be tracked through the various OONI GitHub repositories:
https://github.com/ooni
Highlights are shared in this report below.
*## New OONI Probe experiment for website testing*
We completed the implementation of our new Websteps experiment for
measuring the blocking of websites (
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1733).
This new experiment is the successor to our Web Connectivity network test (
https://github.com/ooni/spec/blob/master/nettests/ts-017-web-connectivity.md).
The research question that this experiment tries to address is that of
enumerating all the possible ways by which a specific URL can be blocked.
This means that this experiment does not stop when it detects the first
type of blocking, but rather drills deeper to discover all the ways by
which blocking is implemented.
The main differences compared to Web Connectivity that are worth
highlighting include:
* We use a new test helper mechanism for enumerating all the endpoints that
need to be tested for a target URL. This includes all the IPs that a
particular domain resolves to, as well as the full redirect chain from an
uncensored vantage point.
* We also use QUIC to measure websites.
* We expand the taxonomy for classifying the various means by which
blocking is implemented.
* We add support for measuring all IP:URL pairs to detect IP blocking that
only targets certain addresses.
In writing this new test, we also made significant improvements to our
measurement engine. In particular, we implemented several new primitives
for performing the various stages of a URL request (that can eventually be
reused by other tests as well): https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/528.
In doing so, we also documented (in our tutorial on writing OONI Probe
tests, see the following section) how third parties can go about using
these functions for writing their own tests.
Once the improvements to the measurement engine were made, we wrote the new
implementation of Websteps using these new functions:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/530
Currently, it’s only possible to run the Websteps experiment through the
miniooni researcher tool (https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli#miniooni).
Our next steps for rolling the experiment out in production include:
* Comparing Websteps to Web Connectivity in terms of bandwidth used;
* Comparing Websteps to Web Connectivity in terms of overall test runtime;
* Comparing Websteps to Web Connectivity in terms of accuracy at detecting
blocking events;
* Deploying the new Websteps test helper in production;
* Integrating the Websites experiment into the OONI Probe experimental card;
* Collecting real world data and analyzing the results for accuracy;
* Fully replacing the Web Connectivity test with Websteps and implementing
all the needed UI changes in the user facing tools.
*## Published new tutorial for writing OONI Probe tests*
We published a new tutorial which explains how to write OONI Probe tests.
The starting point of the tutorial is here:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/tree/master/internal/tutorial
This in-depth tutorial is meant for developers who are interested in
contributing new experiments to OONI Probe. The tutorial includes multiple
chapters that explain how to practically write a network measurement
experiment (using the torsf experiment as an example), how to use the
measurex package to write network experiments, and how to use the netxlite
networking library. The tutorial includes code based on existing network
measurement experiments.
OONI Probe has always been free and open source to encourage independent
third-party review of our methodologies. We have always hoped that the
openness of OONI Probe would also encourage talented developers to
contribute new experiments.
Now, with the help of our new tutorial, community members can contribute
their own network measurement tests. If integrated into OONI Probe, their
test will be run in around 200 countries and territories every month, with
test results published as open data (https://ooni.org/data/).
We have already integrated the RiseupVPN test developed by the LEAP
collective, and we have worked with M-Lab on integrating the NDT and DASH
tests. We look forward to integrating more tests from the community!
*## Published new OONI Probe CLI guide*
We published a new user guide for the OONI Probe Command Line Interface
(CLI): https://ooni.org/support/ooni-probe-cli
Our new user guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to use OONI
Probe CLI on macOS, Debian/Ubuntu Linux, and on Raspberry Pis.
In particular, the user guide explains how to install and run OONI Probe
CLI, enable automated testing, and view OONI Probe CLI test results. We
also provide a reference for every command supported by the OONI Probe CLI.
*## Published a research report on the blocking of Gutenberg site in Italy*
In collaboration with Davide Brunello (independent researcher), we
published a new report which examines the blocking of the Gutenberg book
publishing website across networks in Italy based on OONI data.
Read the report here:
https://ooni.org/post/2021-italy-blocks-gutenberg-book-publishing-website/
Since May 2020, access to the Gutenberg book publishing website has been
blocked in Italy (in compliance with a decree of the court of Rome) over
copyright violation.
OONI measurement analysis shows that access to www.gutenberg.org is blocked
on at least 7 AS networks in Italy. Most ISPs primarily block access by
means of DNS tampering.
In blocking www.gutenberg.org, some ISPs in Italy (e.g Fastweb & Tiscali)
return an NXDOMAIN, others (e.g. TIM, Telecom Italia, Iliad) return the IP
address 127.0.0.1, while Vodafone Italia returns the IP address
83.224.65.170.
Regardless of what is returned in the DNS response, what all ISPs in Italy
(at least those included in this study) appear to have in common is the
lack of transparency of the fact that access to www.gutenberg.org is
intentionally blocked. Internet users just see an error message.
*## Job Opening for OONI Mobile Developer*
We are currently looking for a dedicated mobile developer to lead the
development of the OONI Probe mobile app.
In September 2021, we published the job opening, providing information
about the job description, qualification requirements, and how to apply for
the OONI Mobile Developer position.
Our job opening is available here:
https://ooni.org/post/2021-job-opening-ooni-mobile-developer/
Following the publication of this job opening, we worked on outreach
efforts to help ensure that mobile developers from diverse backgrounds
learn about the opportunity and feel encouraged to apply. To this end, we
shared the job opening extensively on all OONI social media channels, and
with relevant mailing lists and community spaces. We also posted the job
opening on a number of job boards, such as FOSS Jobs (
https://www.fossjobs.net/job/10668/mobile-developer-for-ooni-probe-at-open-…),
the Digital Rights Board (https://www.digitalrights.community/job-board),
and Ada’s list, among others.
As applications started to trickle in, we worked on organizing applications
and following-up with applicants to communicate next steps.
*## OONI Probe Mobile*
We released OONI Probe Mobile 3.3.0 for Android (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/releases/tag/v3.3.0) and iOS (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/releases/tag/v3.3.0).
With this release, we improved the layout of the measurement screens with
the goal of improving the accessibility of information.
In particular, we removed the menu settings that used to exist in each test
result page (to avoid nesting information too much), and we moved those
settings (log, data, OONI Explorer link) to the main measurement screen of
each test result. We also included a share button on the top right corner
of each test result, enabling users to easily share each measurement
directly with their contacts. Thanks to support from Zaina Foundation and
the Localization Lab community, the latest version of the OONI Probe mobile
app now supports 2 new languages: Swahili and Dutch.
We also implemented a modal to ask users to update their OONI Probe mobile
app to the latest version, as documented through the following ticket and
pull requests: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1237,
https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/449 and
https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/pull/447.
Over the last months, we had the opportunity to work with Bloco on
improving the code quality and testing of the OONI Probe Android app. Bloco
document their collaboration with us through their blog post:
https://www.bloco.io/blog/building-test-suite-ooni-probe-android
On OONI Probe Linux, we increased the frequency of automated testing to 12h.
*## OONI Explorer*
We added support to OONI Explorer for displaying measurements (and
filtering by anomaly status) from our new Tor Snowflake experiment:
https://github.com/ooni/explorer/commit/d75fa69fbcfe40ed95a240a25e6c023b83c…
We also added support to the OONI Explorer search listing for filtering and
displaying the anomaly status of OONI Probe Signal, Psiphon, and RiseupVPN
test results:
https://github.com/ooni/explorer/commit/35aac4a23b9394e205894060e2aa5b9a7b3…
*## OONI Measurement Aggregation Toolkit (MAT)*
We made several important improvements to the OONI Measurement Aggregation
Toolkit (MAT). Specifically, we added support for ensuring that there are
no holes in the charts so that multi-axis charts are properly aligned.
Moreover, we added support for a custom tooltip that contains a link to the
raw measurements. This work is documented through the following pull
request: https://github.com/ooni/explorer/pull/600
*## Building a web platform for test list updates*
We made some progress on the web platform that we’re building to enable
community contributions to the Citizen Lab test lists (
https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists). As part of these UI
improvements, we added a descriptive warning when a user adds a website
that is already included in test lists (
https://github.com/ooni/test-lists-ui/issues/3), and we ensured that
comments are only enabled when users edit or delete entries (but not when
they add new entries).
*## OONI backend*
In September 2021, we worked on the following OONI backend activities:
* URL prioritization in the OONI API: Deployed prioritization fixes,
monitored URL prioritization and created relevant internal dashboards,
sorted the prioritization rules listing;
* Looked into missing measurements in the jsonl table;
* Added support for returning the current time as a UTC timestamp via the
check-in API, which is useful for detecting when the probe system clock is
out of sync;
* Fixed URL prioritization further and added more end-to-end testing (
https://github.com/ooni/api/pull/264): Re-checked the test list coverage
and created new internal dashboards;
* URL prioritization: Debugged missing “NEWS” category prioritization rule,
configured prioritization rules for Cuba and Afghanistan, added support for
refraining to test “risky” category codes (see:
https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/530);
* Continued to work on updating our fast-path pipeline;
* Continued to monitor OONI measurement coverage from unattended runs on
OONI Probe Mobile and Desktop;
* Added support to the data processing pipeline for selectively
reprocessing data from a specific country or of a specific experiment;
* Added scoring for the Signal test to the fastpath pipeline and
reprocessed OONI data;
* Continued to work on updating the logic used to populate the counter
tables which are used for performing aggregation queries
(counters_table_updater);
* Worked on deploying an upgraded version of our monitoring infrastructure.
We investigated alternative database solutions that we can potentially use
to boost the performance of our services and better meet our data needs. As
part of this investigation, we looked into the following database solutions:
* BigQuery: We dumped the fastpath in JSONL and ran benchmark queries
against the whole dataset;
* ScyllaDB (we had a call with them to discuss our use cases and needs);
* PostgreSQL 13 (we setup a testing instance of it to test migrating our
data over);
* Clickhouse (we setup a testing instance of Clickhouse and ran some
experiments to estimate the performance);
* DuckDB: We ran benchmark queries and looked into packaging the library.
We also created and plotted database-heavy queries that we can run against
the database solutions that we are testing, and we looked into alternative
hosting platforms.
*## OONI data analysis*
Leading up to Russia’s 2021 legislative election, we analyzed OONI
measurements collected from Russia with the goal of understanding which
platforms were already blocked in the country.
Based on our analysis, we produced 2 charts on the blocking of news media
and circumvention tool websites in Russia, which we shared on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1438913975752740866
We also shared OONI measurements which show that ISPs in Russia continued
to block access to opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s website:
https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1438912653607555077
*## Research reports*
Throughout September 2021, we worked on 2 research reports (in addition to
our report on the blocking of the Gutenberg site in Italy, which we
published in September:
https://ooni.org/post/2021-italy-blocks-gutenberg-book-publishing-website/)
that required relevant OONI data analysis and writing. We completed these
research reports by the end of September 2021, but we will publish them in
October 2021, once relevant external review is complete.
*## Notable community use of OONI Probe and OONI data### iThena integration
of OONI Probe*
In September 2021, OONI Probe was integrated into iThena (
https://root.ithena.net/), a volunteer distributed computing initiative
running on the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing. This
integration is documented by iThena here:
https://root.ithena.net/usr/forum_thread.php?id=151
Thanks to iThena’s integration of OONI Probe, OONI measurement coverage has
increased significantly! We created some charts based on OONI measurement
coverage (illustrating the volume of OONI measurement coverage by
platform), which clearly show the spike in coverage by iThena’s OONI Probe
integration. We shared these charts on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1443944726235856901
*### NetDAN assistive tool*
On 30th September 2021, Unwanted Witness (a digital rights organization in
Uganda) launched the NetDAN assistive tool which notifies people with
visual disabilities of network disruptions in Uganda based on OONI data (
https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1443560903073538053).
The NetDAN assistive tool can be accessed here: https://app.netdan.org/
Alternatively, users can interact with NetDAN via phone by calling a
toll-free number (+256 800 113 269).
NetDAN is an assistive tool that detects and audibly informs the users
about the connectivity status of the most commonly used websites and
applications in Uganda, using OONI data.
*### OONI data cited in Freedom on the Net 2021 reports*
In September 2021, Freedom House published its annual Freedom on the Net
country reports (
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2021/global-drive-control-big-t…).
OONI data (primarily through OONI research reports) was cited in the
following reports:
* Freedom on the Net 2021: Uganda,
https://freedomhouse.org/country/uganda/freedom-net/2021
* Freedom on the Net 2021: Italy,
https://freedomhouse.org/country/italy/freedom-net/2021
* Freedom on the Net 2021: Myanmar,
https://freedomhouse.org/country/myanmar/freedom-net/2021
* Freedom on the Net 2021: Azerbaijan,
https://freedomhouse.org/country/azerbaijan/freedom-net/2021
* Freedom on the Net 2021: Iran,
https://freedomhouse.org/country/iran/freedom-net/2021
* Freedom on the Net 2021: Malaysia,
https://freedomhouse.org/country/malaysia/freedom-net/2021
* Freedom on the Net 2021: Saudi Arabia,
https://freedomhouse.org/country/saudi-arabia/freedom-net/2021
* Freedom on the Net 2021: Zambia,
https://freedomhouse.org/country/zambia/freedom-net/2021
* Freedom on the Net 2021: Brazil,
https://freedomhouse.org/country/brazil/freedom-net/2021
* Freedom on the Net 2021: Colombia,
https://freedomhouse.org/country/colombia/freedom-net/2021
* Freedom on the Net 2021: Jordan,
https://freedomhouse.org/country/jordan/freedom-net/2021
* Freedom on the Net 2021: Ethiopia,
https://freedomhouse.org/country/ethiopia/freedom-net/2021
*## Community activities### Participation in Access Now Twitter Space on
internet shutdowns*
On 15th September 2021, OONI’s Maria participated as a speaker in Access
Now’s Twitter Space discussion titled “Global Rise of Internet Shutdowns
#KeepItOn” (https://twitter.com/accessnow/status/1437893160856870915). As
part of her participation in this discussion, Maria discussed how OONI
tools and data can be used for measuring “partial internet shutdowns”
(involving the blocking of websites and apps), as well as OONI’s role in
Access Now’s #KeepItOn campaign fighting internet shutdowns worldwide.
*### Participation on Kenya Internet Governance Forum (KIGF) 2021 panel*
On 21st September 2021, OONI’s Maria participated as a speaker in a
(pre-event) panel session on “Leveraging the Philanthropic Sector” at the
Kenya Internet Governance Forum (KIGF) 2021 (organized by KICTANet).
General information about KIGF 2021 is available here:
https://kigf.or.ke/kenya-igf-2021/
This panel discussion highlighted the digital rights issues in the Eastern
Africa region and Africa, exploring ways through which partners can
leverage resources (financial, technical, networks, expertise, etc.) to
better respond to threats on digital rights in the region.
As part of her participation, Maria discussed OONI’s partnership program
and explained how OONI collaborates with digital rights groups in Africa to
measure and respond to internet censorship events. Maria also highlighted
the types of resources that such groups can make use of to support their
digital rights work in the region.
*### OutRight Action International Webinar on launch of LGBTIQ website
censorship report*
On 29th September 2021, OONI’s Maria participated in OutRight Action
International’s webinar (
https://twitter.com/OutRightIntl/status/1438251801212596227) to discuss the
recent launch of our joint research report “No Access: LGBTIQ Website
Censorship in Six Countries” (
https://ooni.org/post/2021-no-access-lgbtiq-website-censorship-six-countrie…).
The webinar panelists included prominent LGBTIQ researchers and advocates
from Russia and Indonesia, as well as the founder of My.Kali (an online
pan-Arab LGBT magazine), who shared important insights on the impact of
LGBTIQ website censorship in their regions. OONI’s Maria and the Citizen
Lab’s Irene Poetranto attended to help address any questions related to our
research report.
The webinar recording is available here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W_Py9uXpz0
*### OONI Community Meeting*
On 28th September 2021, we hosted the monthly OONI Community Meeting on our
Slack channel (https://slack.ooni.org/), during which we discussed the
following topics:
1. OONI updates: (1) Job Opening for OONI Probe Mobile Developer, (2) New
User Guide for OONI Probe CLI.
2. VE sin Filtro’s public image for running OONI Probe on Raspberry Pis.
3. Measuring server side-blocking and DNS poisoning.
*## Userbase*
In September 2021, 16,887,184 OONI Probe measurements were collected from
4,765 AS networks in 192 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.
Hi friends,
Throughout November 2021, Team CommUNITY are hosting the FIRST ever *Community
Health Village *for the digital rights community!
This will entail a series of workshops, talks, and sessions with healthcare
practitioners, healers and other experts, geared towards digital rights
defenders.
Sessions include "Understanding & Designing your Mental Health Plan",
"Dealing with Distress in the Digital Rights Community", among many others.
You can *RSVP for the Community Health sessions* here:
https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/2021-community-health-village
Cheers,
Maria.
Hello,
These days we're primarily supported by the DRL, which is why we do
quarterly reporting. That said, we'd like to share monthly updates from the
OONI team with the community, hence our August 2021 report shared below.
I'll follow-up to share our September 2021 report.
*# OONI Monthly Report: August 2021*
Throughout August 2021, the OONI team worked on the following sprints:
* Sprint 45 - Antarctic Krill (2nd - 15th August 2021)
* Sprint 46 - Happy Oyster (16th - 29th August 2021)
Our work can be tracked through the various OONI GitHub repositories:
https://github.com/ooni
Highlights are shared in this report below.
*## Published research report on the blocking of LGBTIQ websites in six
countries*
In collaboration with the Citizen Lab and OutRight Action International, we
co-published a new research report, "No Access: LGBTIQ Website Censorship
in Six Countries", which examines the blocking of LGBTIQ websites in
Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab
Emirates (UAE).
The report is available on each of our websites:
* OONI:
https://ooni.org/post/2021-no-access-lgbtiq-website-censorship-six-countrie…
* Citizen Lab:
https://citizenlab.ca/2021/08/no-access-lgbtiq-website-censorship-in-six-co…
* OutRight Action International:
https://outrightinternational.org/content/no-access-lgbtiq-website-censorsh…
Download the full (203-page) report here:
https://ooni.org/documents/2021-lgbtiq-website-censorship-report/2021-lgbti…
We adopted a mixed methods research approach, combining OONI network
measurement analysis with interviews and literature research. The timeframe
that we selected for OONI data analysis was June 1, 2016 to July 31, 2020.
To examine the impact of online LGBTIQ censorship, OutRight Action
International and the Citizen Lab interviewed LGBTIQ communities in the six
countries.
Our research report received the following press coverage:
https://www.openlynews.com/i/?id=3ff85ecb-ac2a-4a84-a451-876598f90a4fhttps://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL8N2Q23D4https://www.freewebturkey.com/dunyada-sansur-gundemi-28-agustos-3-eylul/https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/tech-firms-facilitating-censorship-of…https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/life/invisible-and-silenced-lgbtq-online-content…https://76crimes.com/2021/09/15/how-online-censors-muzzle-queer-voices-in-r…
*## Published research report on social media blocks amid Zambia’s 2021
election*
We published a new research report titled: "Zambia: Social media blocked
amid 2021 general elections".
The report is available here:
https://ooni.org/post/2021-zambia-social-media-blocks-amid-elections/
In the report, we share OONI data (and technical observations) on the
blocking of WhatsApp, Twitter, and Facebook amid Zambia's 2021 general
election.
*## Academic paper on internet censorship in Myanmar published by FOCI*
In collaboration with the Center for Applied Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA)
of UC San Diego, Kentik, and other researchers from UC San Diego and the
University of Michigan, we co-authored an academic research paper titled:
“A multi-perspective view of Internet censorship in Myanmar”.
We submitted this paper to the ACM SIGCOMM 2021 Workshop on Free and Open
Communications on the Internet (FOCI 2021), who published our paper on 27th
August 2021: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3473604.3474562
Our paper can be read through the following link:
https://www.ramapad.com/papers/myanmar_foci21_cr.pdf
Ramakrishna Padmanabhan (CAIDA, UC San Diego) presented the paper at the
FOCI 2021 workshop (
https://conferences.sigcomm.org/sigcomm/2021/workshop-foci.html) and
published a video presentation which summarizes our findings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABcswfBO2RY
As part of our work on this paper, we analyzed OONI measurements collected
from Myanmar between 1st February 2021 to 30th April 2021, building upon
our previous research report on Myanmar (
https://ooni.org/post/2021-myanmar-internet-blocks-and-outages/). Notably,
we found two cases of collateral damage caused by IP blocks in Myanmar.
Based on our analysis, we contributed to the writing of the paper, and
helped produce relevant charts.
*## OONI blog post for TunnelBear Tales blog series*
We had the opportunity to write about OONI as part of the TunnelBear Tale
blog series.
On 3rd August 2021, TunnelBear published our blog post (“TunnelBear tales:
OONI”), which is the form of an interview. In this blog post, we discuss
how OONI came to be, why people run OONI Probe, the role of network
measurement in the fight for internet freedom, community stories, and what
is needed to further support the censorship measurement community.
Our blog post for TunnelBear is available here:
https://www.tunnelbear.com/blog/tunnelbear-tales-ooni/
*## Published blog post on mining OONI data*
To enable community members to access and analyze OONI data, we published a
blog post which explains the various ways (S3 bucket, PostgreSQL database,
OONI API, OONI Explorer) through which you can access raw OONI measurement
data.
This blog post (“Mining OONI data”) is available here:
https://ooni.org/post/mining-ooni-data/
*## Published blog post on a brief introduction to OONI*
To enable new community members to learn about OONI, we published a blog
post which provides a gentle introduction to OONI, some basics about how
the internet works, and how OONI Probe detects blocking.
This blog post (“A brief introduction to OONI”) is available here:
https://ooni.org/post/brief-introduction-to-ooni/
*## Expanding OONI censorship measurement methodologies*
In August 2021, we started working on rewriting our flagship experiment
(Web Connectivity) for measuring the blocking of websites. We first
released the Web Connectivity test 5 years ago (
https://ooni.org/post/web-connectivity/), and it has served us quite well
in measuring the blocking of websites worldwide (https://ooni.org/reports/).
But internet censorship has evolved over the last years (for example, SNI
based filtering is increasingly being observed), requiring us to rethink
(and rewrite) how we measure the accessibility of websites.
Some of the main improvements (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1714)
we would like to make to the Web Connectivity experiment include:
* QUIC support
* TLS parroting
* Using both the DNS of the local resolver and that of the test helper
* Reducing the number of false positives by changing the logic by which
measurements are run
To incorporate such changes, we have decided to re-write our website
measurement experiment entirely from scratch.
Our new experiment is tentatively called “Websteps”, and throughout August
2021, we wrote a series of design documents to describe this new experiment.
These (currently internal) design documents for our new Websteps experiment
include:
* High-level description of the Websteps experiment
* Evaluation criteria
* Underlying library: Data format and algorithms library
* Prototype: Where to find a code prototype and how to use it
* Data format: Specification of measurements data format
* Example measurements: How measurements look like with specific errors
* Known-data quality issues
We started off by reviewing these documents internally in our team. Based
on internal review, we made a series of iterations and improvements. The
next steps of the review process involve sharing these documents with
certain community members (who have relevant expertise), and eventually
sharing them publicly to encourage public review and feedback.
The new websteps experiment depends on the use of a new type of test-helper
which assists it in performing discovery of the testing targets and is also
used as a baseline for comparison. We wrote a specification for this new
test helper in the ooni/spec repo: https://github.com/ooni/spec/pull/219
In August 2021, we also reviewed the pull requests by Google Summer of Code
(GSoC) student Kathrin Elmenhorst, who added support for using the utls
library for TLS parroting (https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/442). She
also worked with us on implementing a prototype for the new Websteps
experiment (https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/432) and fixed a bug in
it (https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/447).
*## OONI Probe Mobile*
We worked on identifying the priorities and next steps for the development
of the OONI Probe mobile app. To this end, we went through community
feedback (through tickets and internal documents) to identify feature
requests, bug reports, and other areas that need improvement. Based on
this, we wrote an internal document where we map out the priorities and
next steps for the development of OONI Probe Mobile over the next 6 months,
based on which we opened relevant tickets.
*## OONI Run*
Based on community feedback, we worked on making some improvements to the
OONI Run (https://run.ooni.io/) platform. In particular, we worked on
ensuring that HTTPS is used as the default prefix when URLs are added to
the platform, that the HTTPS prefix is not duplicated when URLs are pasted
in bulk, and we added a note informing users that they can copy-paste
multiple URLs into the platform. This work is tracked here:
https://github.com/ooni/run/pull/74
*## OONI Probe Desktop*
We made progress on improving the end-to-end testing of the OONI Probe
Desktop app. Specifically, tests were added for ensuring that the
onboarding process, the dashboard, settings, and the test results screens
work as expected: https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/pull/243
We also worked on implementing a fix to a bug that led to the autorun
settings not being preserved across updates:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/pull/237
*## OONI backend*
In August 2021, we worked on the following OONI backend activities:
* Developed beta quality data analysis capabilities for pluggable transport
tests: https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/766
* Added support to the OONI API for displaying PT measurements:
https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/771
* API: Searched and fetched measurements by uid in addition to rid/input
(fixes issues around paging and rid/input collision):
https://github.com/ooni/api/pull/263
* Monitored the growth of unattended OONI Probe runs and test list coverage
* Investigated an odd decrease in the number of received measurements from
OONI Probe Android and unattended OONI Probe desktop runs, and added new
metrics to our internal dashboard.
* Tested the URL prioritization backend:
https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/418
* Fixed URL prioritization and added end-to-end testing:
https://github.com/ooni/api/pull/264
* Added support for using the new OONI measurement data format in s3 for
end-to-end testing
* Created admin accounts for our test-list web UI
* Prioritized the testing of the GRP Citizen Lab category code in Zambia in
response to the blocking of social media (amid elections)
* Looked into OONI API logs to detect popular queries that take a long time
to run (heavy hitters)
* Deployed Nginx caching
* Worked on improvements to the system used to predict the expected
measurement volume from the API
* Experimented with different database indexes on our fastpath table
* Worked on updating our fast-path pipeline
* Worked on updating the logic used to populate the counter tables which
are used for performing aggregation queries (counters_table_updater)
*## Google Summer of Code (GSoC)*
Throughout the summer of 2021, we had the opportunity to host two Google
Summer of Code (GSoC) students: Kathrin Elmenhorst and Shivam Shekhar.
Between June 2021 to August 2021, Kathrin worked with us on developing OONI
Probe network experiments (
https://community.torproject.org/gsoc/ooni-probe-experiments/), while
Shivam worked with us on developing integration and unit tests for the OONI
Probe desktop app (https://community.torproject.org/gsoc/ooni-probe-testing/
).
In August 2021, Kathrin and Shivam completed their GSoC projects with us,
and we submitted a review of their performance. Overall, we were thrilled
to work with Kathrin and Shivam, and we thank them for their excellent
contributions to OONI projects!
*## Test list updates*
In August 2021, we made a minor update to the Citizen Lab test lists for
Cuba and Venezuela. In particular, we added a site (to both lists) which
tracks fake news in Venezuela, but which was reportedly blocked in Cuba.
Pull request: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/814
*## Community activities### OONI Community Meeting*
On 31st August 2021, we hosted the monthly OONI Community Meeting on our
Slack channel (https://slack.ooni.org/), during which we discussed the
following topics:
1. Tor usage in Turkmenistan is decreasing. How can we increase OONI Probe
testing of Tor in Turkmenistan?
2. Preparing for Russia’s upcoming 2021 election: Measurement and advocacy.
3. Reviewing the test list for Afghanistan in accordance with possible new
regulations.
*## Userbase*
In August 2021, 13,304,893 OONI Probe measurements were collected from
4,938 AS networks in 194 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.
Hello,
Hope you're all doing well.
These days we're primarily supported by the DRL, which is why we do
quarterly reporting. That said, we'd like to share monthly updates from the
OONI team with the community, hence our July 2021 report shared below. I'll
also follow-up to share our August and September 2021 reports.
*# OONI Monthly Report: July 2021*
Throughout July 2021, the OONI team worked on the following sprints:
* Sprint 43 - Confused Kraken (5th - 18th July 2021)
* Sprint 44 - Dancing Sirens (19th - 31st July 2021)
Our work can be tracked through the various OONI GitHub repositories:
https://github.com/ooni
Highlights are shared in this report below.
*## Published research report on media censorship in Azerbaijan*
In collaboration with Azerbaijan Internet Watch, we co-published a new
research report titled: "Media censorship in Azerbaijan through the lens of
network measurement".
Our report is available through the following sites:
* OONI: https://ooni.org/post/2021-azerbaijan/
* Azerbaijan Internet Watch:
https://www.az-netwatch.org/news/media-censorship-in-azerbaijan-through-the…
As part of our analysis of OONI measurements collected from Azerbaijan
between January 2020 to May 2021, we found:
** Blocking of independent news media and circumvention tool websites.
*Throughout
the testing period, several independent news media and circumvention tool
sites presented HTTP failures caused by connection timeouts. This suggests
the potential use of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) by ISPs in Azerbaijan.
** Attempts to block Tor and Psiphon.* ISPs in Azerbaijan attempted to
block Tor and Psiphon amid the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. However, both
attempts appear to have been quite ineffective, as these tools have
built-in circumvention fallback options. Tor Metrics also show a spike in
usage during this period.
** Temporary blocking of social media amid 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.* Between
September 2020 to November 2020, several social media websites presented
the same HTTP failures (as news media and circumvention tool sites), while
the testing of WhatsApp and Telegram presented signs of TLS level
interference.
** Variance of censorship across networks.* ISPs in Azerbaijan appear to be
adopting similar censorship techniques. However, censorship varies from
network to network, as different ISPs block different websites and apps at
different moments in time.
*## Hosted a 3-day online OONI Partner Training*
Between 5th-7th July 2021, we organized and hosted a 3-day online OONI
Partner Training for our partners from 9 countries in Asia and the Middle
East (https://ooni.org/partners). The event also included participants from
international organizations, Reporters Without Borders and Human Rights
Watch.
Overall, 45 participants from 23 digital rights organizations attended this
3-day OONI Partner Training. To ensure a safe, friendly, and pleasant
experience for all during the training, we asked all participants to adhere
to OONI’s Code of Conduct (
https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/blob/master/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md) and to
follow the Chatham House Rule on Privacy (
https://www.chathamhouse.org/about-us/chatham-house-rule).
The goal of the OONI Partner Training was to share knowledge and skills on
OONI’s censorship measurement tools, dataset, and methodologies to enable
their use as part of research and advocacy efforts. We also aimed to
collect feedback on how to improve OONI tools to better serve community
needs.
The event was facilitated entirely online (over Zoom), and entailed two 1.5
hour sessions per day (over 3 days). We facilitated the following 6
sessions as part of the 3-day OONI Partner Training:
1) Information Controls Around the World
2) Introduction to Internet Censorship
3) Using the OONI Probe Apps
4) Using OONI Run to coordinate censorship testing
5) Using OONI Explorer to find censorship measurement data
6) Interpreting OONI data
We published a blog post which shares further information about the
training sessions and overall event:
https://ooni.org/post/ooni-partner-training-2021/
At the end of the 3-day training, we shared a post-training survey (
https://forms.gle/n62ktvcfD1u7DgPMA) with all participants to collect their
feedback on how to improve future OONI training events.
To support ongoing learning, we shared a Resources document (
https://ooni.org/documents/2021-ooni-partner-training-resources/ooni-resour…)
with participants that includes OONI-related resources, as well as other
resources (on censorship circumvention, digital security, monitoring
internet connectivity shutdowns, and other censorship measurement
platforms) that participants expressed interest in.
We also shared OONI training slides (
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1mpoB_ObjMH0EWQhyZRpKWnwl5PUHf-Sa5PK…)
that they can use (and customize) to facilitate OONI workshops for their
communities.
In July 2021, we issued OONI certificates for participants who attended our
2 OONI Partner Training events (
https://ooni.org/post/ooni-partner-training-2021/).
*## Blocking of social media in Cuba amid protests*
On 12th July 2021, Cuba started blocking access to online social media
services amid anti-government protests.
On the same day, we reported on the blocking of the WhatsApp, Telegram and
Signal apps based on real-time data collected from Cuba:
https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1414622433156476930
OONI data on the blocking of WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal in Cuba is
available through the following links:
* Signal:
https://explorer.ooni.org/search?until=2021-07-13&since=2021-06-12&probe_cc…
* Telegram:
https://explorer.ooni.org/search?until=2021-07-13&since=2021-06-12&probe_cc…
* WhatsApp:
https://explorer.ooni.org/search?until=2021-07-13&since=2021-06-12&probe_cc…
The blocking of the Signal Private Messenger App in Cuba was detected based
on OONI’s new Signal test (https://ooni.org/nettest/signal), which was
shipped in April 2021.
Our new Signal test also contributes ongoing measurements on the blocking
of the Signal app in Iran (
https://explorer.ooni.org/search?until=2021-07-30&since=2021-06-30&probe_cc…)
and China (
https://explorer.ooni.org/search?until=2021-07-30&since=2021-06-30&probe_cc…),
among other countries.
We recently added support to our backend for the adjustment of URL
priorities (as part of URL prioritization work). This allows us to specify
in which countries certain URLs should have higher priority for testing and
empowers us to dynamically adjust these in response to censorship events.
Following the social media blockade in Cuba, we bumped up the priority of
the GRP (Social Media) category code (from the Citizen Lab test lists:
https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/blob/master/lists/00-LEGEND-new_ca…)
on 14th July 2021 for Cuba. This enabled us to detect (and collect
measurements on) the temporary blocking of facebook.com in Cuba (
https://explorer.ooni.org/search?until=2021-07-30&since=2021-06-30&probe_cc…).
It also enabled us to detect (and collect measurements on) the blocking of
tiktok.com in Cuba (
https://explorer.ooni.org/search?until=2021-07-30&since=2021-06-30&probe_cc…).
Following the prioritization of URLs from this category, we were able to
collect a total of 960 measurements for the GRP category code from Cuba.
OONI’s response to the recent social media censorship events in Cuba has
received the following press coverage:
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/cubans-protest-government-cracks-int…https://www.wsj.com/articles/internet-powered-mass-protests-in-cuba-then-th…https://cpj.org/2021/07/journalists-detained-and-harassed-internet-disrupte…
Cuban organization, YucaByte, published a report documenting the censorship
events in Cuba amid the protests (citing OONI data):
https://www.yucabyte.org/2021/07/12/11j-internet-cuba/
*## OONI Probe Mobile*
We released OONI Probe Android 3.2.0 (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/releases/tag/v3.2.0) and OONI Probe
iOS 3.2.0 (https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/releases/tag/v3.2.0).
This release includes:
* A reminder encouraging users to enable automated testing
* A badge to indicate that a proxy is being used
* Support for minimizing a running test
* Support for validating URLs shared via OONI Run (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/443)
* Font size fix on iPhone SE (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/commit/8f3fcf90b286e7e9ffee18c4b8ea223f2f…
)
These features were added to encourage users to enable automated testing
and contribute measurements regularly. In response to community requests,
we also added a badge to indicate that a proxy is being used, and we added
support for minimizing a running test (enabling users to make use of other
features of the OONI Probe app while a test is running).
*## OONI Probe Desktop*
We released OONI Probe Desktop 3.5.2:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/releases/tag/v3.5.2
This release fixed a critical bug in autoupdate which prevented downloading
and installing updates.
In July 2021, we provided mentorship to Google Summer of Code (GSoC)
student Shivam Shekhar, who worked on implementing end-to-end tests for
OONI Probe Desktop. In particular, he implemented tests for the code
responsible for running the OONI Probe command line tool (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/pull/231). Moreover, tests were
implemented for several UI components as part of the following pull
request: https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/pull/229
*## Progress on browser-based OONI Probe*
We made some progress on the browser based implementation of OONI Probe.
Specifically, we integrated React into the project so that we can reuse the
existing components we developed for web based projects (see:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-web/commit/a9da79b9384f7f496bb3278a4a00cacc39…).
We also did some research into how to tweak the fetch API calls so that we
minimise the amount of sensitive data transmitted to the measured web hosts
(see:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-web/commit/5bf0ba41a9e2464da070ba21f4463ddce2…
).
*## Expanding OONI censorship measurement methodologies*
We looked into alternative TLS stacks that we could use for performing
measurements, but potentially also for communicating with our backend
services. This was prompted by the fact that we have noticed that some
countries (such as Iran) will implement blocking of all TLS connections
that present a specific fingerprint.
In particular, we looked into https://github.com/refraction-networking/utls and
researched how we could go about integrating it into the OONI codebase, as
well as what work would be necessary to update it to the latest version of
the golang TLS library. This work is documented through the following
ticket: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1702
In July 2021, we provided mentorship to Google Summer of Code (GSoC)
student Kathrin Elmenhorst, with whom we collaborated on making several
improvements to how errors are handled inside of our measurement engine.
Specifically, we ensured that it’s possible to accurately map more classes
of errors to OONI error strings, as documented through the following
ticket: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1505
We also made some progress on comparing the new golang-written Web
Connectivity test helper to the old python-based one. The goal of this
comparison is to determine how well-suited the new test helper is at
replacing the legacy one and if, in doing the switch from one to the other,
we are introducing any inaccuracies in the resulting measurements.
*## Created mockups for new OONI Probe Snowflake test results*
We implemented mockups for displaying the test results of our new Snowflake
pluggable transport test inside of OONI Probe. This has been tracked as
part of the following issue: https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/759
*## Research on whether to ship PTs as a separate binary*
We carried out research to explore whether to ship pluggable transports as
separate binaries or link them with the ooniprobe binary. Based on this
research, we wrote an internal document which explains our design choices,
PT spec considerations, and conclusions. In the end, we chose to integrate
our new Snowflake experiment into ooniprobe as a Go library leveraging
version 2 of the pluggable-transports specification:
https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/765
*## OONI backend*
In July 2021, we worked on the following OONI backend activities:
* Fixed certbot nginx configuration bug (server/port overlap)
* Made improvements to the API rate limiting system and developed new
integration tests to ensure it’s working as expected:
https://github.com/ooni/api/pull/256
* Added support for the global prioritized testing of popular social media
URLs: https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/507
* Added support for the prioritized testing of the GRP Citizen Lab category
code in Cuba
* Worked on the test helper rotation tool which automatically deploys on
cloud infrastructure machines for running backend infrastructure. These are
rotated automatically on a periodic basis:
https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/496
* As part of the development of the rotating test helpers, we also did a
major rework to how TLS certificates are generated. Specifically we
integrated it with DNS and certbot and deployed it to production.
* Test with probes on test API.
* API: Deployed test.ooni domains in CORS:
https://github.com/ooni/api/pull/259
* API: Switched URL submission to account_id:
https://github.com/ooni/api/pull/260
* Reprocessed legacy measurements and created JSONL files
* Monitored measurement coverage by unattended runs
* Updated internal ASN coverage charts
* Developed charts that make predictions on the expected measurement volume
based on the submission API. We have these charts implemented in our
internal backend dashboards and have configured alerts to notify us if the
expected measurement volume falls below a certain threshold.
* Implemented support for running end-to-end integration tests of the API
and fastpath on our continuous integration platform. Through this setup we
can ensure that a large part of the backend infrastructure is working as
expected and that the API and fastpath are run on real OONI measurement
data: https://github.com/ooni/api/pull/258.
* Refactored scripts to run tests on different environments
*## Building a web platform for test list updates*
We deployed the private beta of our new web platform for test list updates
to production (https://test-lists.ooni.org/login). We worked on fixing
issues reported as part of internal team testing of the platform (
https://github.com/ooni/test-lists-ui/pull/2). We also shared the private
beta with a few community members to collect their feedback, based on which
we worked on further improvements, which are documented as issues here:
https://github.com/ooni/test-lists-ui/issues
Once the private beta is further polished, we will share it more
extensively to collect further community feedback before launching the
platform.
*## Collaboration with Netalitica*
Netalitica researchers continued to do excellent work in reviewing and
updating more Citizen Lab test lists. In July 2021, we reviewed their
updates to the test lists for India and Burundi and shared feedback for
improvements.
*## Test list updates*
In July 2021, we contributed updates to the following Citizen Lab test
lists:
* Russia: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/805
* Ethiopia: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/804
* Armenia: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/803
*## New partnership with Internet Society (ISOC)*
In July 2021, we established a new partnership with Internet Society (ISOC).
As part of this partnership, OONI is now a data partner (
https://pulse.internetsociety.org/partners) for ISOC’s Pulse project on
Internet shutdowns: https://pulse.internetsociety.org/shutdowns
As a data partner, we will provide ISOC with relevant OONI data in support
of their Pulse project which maps internet shutdowns around the world.
*## Community activities### Zaina Foundation Internet Shutdown Training*
On 12th and 13th July 2021, Zaina Foundation organized and facilitated an
Internet Shutdown Training for human rights defenders in Tanzania. One of
the core objectives of this training was to train coalition members on OONI
censorship measurement methodologies and to explore OONI data.
As part of this training, Zaina Foundation facilitated the following 2 OONI
workshops:
1) Introduction to OONI Probe and OONI Explorer
2) OONI practical session
Following the training, Zaina Foundation shared community feedback with us
and coordinated with local communities on translating OONI Probe to Swahili.
*### OONI presentation at the Nexa Center for Internet and Society*
On 28th July 2021, OONI’s Arturo presented OONI at the Nexa Center for
Internet and Society of the Polytechnic University of Turin. As part of his
presentation, Arturo provided OONI updates on the state of internet
censorship worldwide in 2020.
Information about the event is available here:
https://nexa.polito.it/lunch-90
The presentation can be viewed through the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO53FLTu4a8
*### Access Now webinar on internet shutdowns*
On 30th July 2021, OONI’s Maria presented OONI as part of Access Now’s
webinar titled: “#KeepItOn during an internet shutdown: How to measure,
document, and circumvent network interference”. In particular, she
discussed how OONI’s tools and data can be used for measuring partial
internet shutdowns (involving the blocking of websites and apps).
This webinar was live-streamed on YouTube: https://youtu.be/aFIBrRXKm2E
*### OONI documentation in Farsi*
Iranian community members created detailed and comprehensive documentation
which explains OONI tools and methodologies in Farsi.
This documentation is available here:
https://wikicensorship.github.io/fa/docs/measure-internet-censorship/OONI/
The Farsi documentation covers the following areas:
* Investigate Internet censorship through the OONI probe
* How Websites Test Works
* Directly enter custom addresses in the application
* Create a custom test list
* Analysis of results
* Simple analysis of results
* Advanced results analysis
* Diagnosis of sanctions
* Internal breaker setting only for backend connection
* Data mining in OONI results data
*### OONI Probe video tutorial in Spanish*
Our Bolivian partners, Fundación Internet Bolivia (
https://ooni.org/partners/fundacion-internet-bolivia.org/), created a video
tutorial in Spanish where they present OONI and explain OONI Probe,
providing a live demo of using the tool.
This is available here:
https://peertube.tv/videos/watch/e6991978-a3d7-4718-b688-482a9a4de525
*### OONI Community Meeting*
On 27th July 2021, we hosted the monthly OONI Community Meeting on our
Slack channel (https://slack.ooni.org/), during which we discussed the
following topics:
1) New web platform for updating the Citizen Lab test lists: Request for
community feedback
2) Adding Signal under instant messaging tests for Debian/Ubuntu OONI Probe
users
3) Backend proxy for OONI Probe Desktop and OONI Probe CLI
*## Userbase*
In July 2021, 13,522,345 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 4,969
AS networks in 195 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.
Hello friends,
We have *released OONI Probe Mobile 3.3*!
Please update to the latest version: https://ooni.org/install/mobile
On Android, the latest version is 3.3.1, while on iOS, it's 3.3.0.
With the latest release, we have improved the layout of the measurement
screens with the goal of improving the accessibility of information.
In particular, we have removed the menu settings that used to exist in each
test result page (to avoid nesting information too much), and we have moved
those settings (log, data, OONI Explorer link) to the main measurement
screen of each test result.
We have also included a *share button* on the top right corner of each test
result, enabling you to share each measurement directly with your contacts.
Thanks to support from *Zaina Foundation and the Localization Lab community*,
the latest version of the OONI Probe mobile app *now supports Swahili and
Dutch*! :)
As a side note: If you ran OONI Probe while Facebook services were down
yesterday, test results were marked as "anomalous". Unless you live in a
country where Facebook services are blocked anyway, you can treat
"anomalous" measurements as results of Facebook services being down (rather
than blocking).
Cheers,
OONI team.