Hello Oonitarians,

I am sending this email to share OONI data providing evidence of recent censorship events in Spain and China.

*# Spain*

As of yesterday, OONI Probe users in Spain started testing the blocking of sites associated to the upcoming Catalan Independence Referendum.

The sites that were added for testing can be found here: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/222/files

If you know of other sites that should be added to this testing list, please create a pull request or send them to me via email.

As of today, we have started collecting network measurements which provide *evidence of the DNS blocking of sites related to the Catalan Referendum*.

Below are some examples:

https://explorer.ooni.torproject.org/measurement/20170925T094539Z_AS12479_YS...

https://explorer.ooni.torproject.org/measurement/20170925T094539Z_AS12479_YS...

To find more examples, please filter the measurements through the following page: https://explorer.ooni.torproject.org/country/ES

You can filter the measurements through the following steps:

1. Click "Filter Results" in the Spanish OONI Explorer page: https://explorer.ooni.torproject.org/country/ES

2. Add a domain in the "Test Input" section that already exists in the Spanish test list: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/blob/master/lists/es.csv (if it's not included in this list, then that URL hasn't been tested)

3. Click "Apply Filter".

This will now present you with all the measurements pertaining to the domain that you selected. By clicking on each of those measurements, you will be able to find evidence of the blocking at the bottom of each "measurement page", by clicking on "object" (thus opening up the technical details).

*# China*

We *confirm that the blocking of WhatsApp in the AS9808 network in China started on 23rd September 2017.

*Network measurements collected from that network over the last days show:

WhatsApp blocked on 25th September 2017: https://explorer.ooni.torproject.org/measurement/20170925T150818Z_AS9808_Ubw...

WhatsApp blocked on 24th September 2017: https://explorer.ooni.torproject.org/measurement/20170924T032827Z_AS9808_VEi...

WhatsApp blocked on 23rd September 2017: https://explorer.ooni.torproject.org/measurement/20170923T190041Z_AS9808_KVg...

In contrast, WhatsApp was found to be accessible in that network on 22nd September 2017 (and during all the previous dates): https://explorer.ooni.torproject.org/measurement/20170922T161201Z_AS9808_Vvc...

This strongly suggests that this ISP started blocking WhatsApp on 23rd September 2017.

It's worth highlighting that, as of yesterday, we see this ISP increasing the censorship of WhatsApp. During the previous dates (23rd & 24th September), they were only blocking TCP connections to WhatsApp's endpoints.

But as of yesterday (25th September), they are *ALSO blocking access to WhatsApp's registration service* -- therefore enhancing the censorship of WhatsApp.

It's also worth noting that these measurements have only been collected from one ISP (AS9808). Therefore, it remains unclear to us whether other ISPs in China are blocking access to WhatsApp as well, or whether the block is being implemented on a nation-wide level.

The measurements that we collect depend on the OONI Probe users in China, and where they choose to run tests.

You can filter the WhatsApp measurements collected from China through the following steps:

1. Access the China OONI Explorer page: https://explorer.ooni.torproject.org/country/CN

2. Click "Filter Results".

3. Select "WhatsApp" in the drop-down menu of "Test Name".

4. Click "Apply Filter".

You will now be presented will all the OONI network measurements showing the testing of WhatsApp in China. By clicking on each individual measurement, you will be able to find more information by clicking "object" (uncovering technical details).

We encourage you to use this data as part of policy and advocacy efforts, as well as for recommending censorship circumvention advice.

All the best,

Maria.