Hello,

Over the last year, OONI has had the opportunity to serve as the host organization of OTF Information Controls Fellow, Chinmayi S K (https://www.opentech.fund/about/people/chinmayi-sk/).

Today, we are excited to share the publication of Chinmayi's research report, titled "Those Unspoken Thoughts: A study of censorship and media freedom in Manipur, India".

Summary of report: https://ooni.org/post/2020-those-unspoken-thoughts-otf-fellow-report/

Full length report: https://ooni.org/documents/those-unspoken-thoughts-otf-fellow.pdf

As part of her fellowship, Chinmayi researched internet censorship in Manipur, India, and its effect on the womxn in the region.

To this end, she adopted both quantitative and qualitative research methods. To investigate internet censorship, Chinmayi ran OONI Probe in various regions of India and analyzed relevant OONI measurements. To explore the impact of internet censorship on womxn in the region and to investigate restrictions to media freedom, she circulated a survey and carried out interviews.

Key findings from her research include:

* Censorship variance on a network-level. Internet censorship (i.e., blocking of websites) in India mainly varies from ISP to ISP, rather than from region to region.

* Block pages were detected for 167 URLs in India across 5 ISPs (including 2 networks in Manipur), 84 URLs of which remain operational and are discussed as part of this study.        * Most blocked URLs include blogs, file-sharing sites, and media websites.

* Many of the blocked blogs and media articles were included in a 2013 blocklist issued by the government of India, in response to the IIPM controversy.

* Block pages were mainly served for specific articles, rather than blocking access to entire websites.

* Many of these blocked articles covered the 2012 murder of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and violence against Muslims in Assam.

* Many of these sites now support HTTPS, which means that the blocking of articles on HTTP webpages can easily be circumvented.

* Websites related to Manipur -- including local media websites, human rights websites, and women’s rights websites -- were found accessible throughout the testing period of this study.

* Manipur has faced around five shutdowns from 2012 to the time of writing this report. Internet shutdowns create inconvenience for the womxn of Manipur. Womxn reported loss of professional standing and opportunities as a result of them. They also reported facing anxiety and restlessness thus affecting their mental health because of these shutdowns. The concerns about the need of shutdowns were raised.It remains unclear whether and how internet shutdowns have helped resolve conflict in the state.

* The delicate socio-political situation in Manipur means there are multiple threat vectors for expression. The number and complexity of the threats has created a chilling effect on freedom of expression. Womxn practice self censorship to avoid conflict.    .

* Certain internet activities have led to offline consequences for some womxn in Manipur, often in the nature of threat to life and security.

* Press freedom continues to be under threat with legal actions such as defamation cases, pressure from the political class adding to the existing restriction that they face in terms of pressures from UGs (Underground Groups) and the government.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this study, please reach out to Chinmayi directly: chinmayi@thebachchaoproject.org

Please help share the report: https://twitter.com/skchinmayi/status/1273575300736020480

Thanks,

Maria.