Hello! Below is my July’24 report!
In July, I resolved 587 tickets: On Telegram (@TorProjectSupportBot) - 427 On RT (frontdesk@tpo) - 145 On WhatsApp (+447421000612) - 13 and on Signal (+17787431312) - 2.
My main focus is to help Russian-speaking users get access to Tor. To do that I: 1. Share bridges and instructions. 2. Collect feedback. 3. Help with troubleshooting. 4. Monitor censorship events in the Central Asiacountries [1].
The increased internet censorship in Russia, in particular, the throttling of YouTube [2], led to an increase in the number of tickets at the end of the month.
I continue to collect information on the bug with Tor Browser for Android (TBA) not working on Samsung devices [3].
In July'2024, Apple fulfilled the Roskomnadzor request to ban some VPN apps from the AppStore[4]. To prepare for their further actions, I checked the alternative ways to get and install Tor Browser for Android using F-Droid. I wrote updated instructions on how to do that. That helped to find an issue with Tor Browser for Android marked as an "anti-feature" app on the F-Droid app catalog[5] and how this make censored users life more difficult to get TBA. Also, I checked the sideloading options for iOS and Onion Browser, which are very difficult for regular users to follow.
Also, I continue to reviewRussian translationsin weblate, which often helps to improve our user documentation[6].
[1] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/censorship-analysis/-/issu... [2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-25/youtube-throttled-in-russ... [3]https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/42714 [4] https://therecord.media/apple-app-store-russia-vpns [5] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/41161#no... [6] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/web/manual/-/issues/173
Thanks!