Hello,

Below we share what the OONI team worked on in September 2019.

## Launch of revamped OONI Explorer

We launched the revamped version of OONI Explorer!

Access the new OONI Explorer here: https://explorer.ooni.org/

Along with the launch, we published a post that explains in detail what's new about OONI Explorer 2.0: https://ooni.org/post/next-generation-ooni-explorer/

We were interviewed by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), who published a Q&A where we discuss how journalists can use the new OONI Explorer: https://cpj.org/blog/2019/09/qa-ooni-explorer-team-unlock-the-webs-untold-ce...

VPNCompare also published a blog post about the new OONI Explorer: https://www.vpncompare.co.uk/ooni-explorer-uncovering-global-web-censorship/

## Report on blocking of BBC and Alhurra in Egypt

In collaboration with Egyptian community members, we published a research report documenting the blocking of BBC and Alhurra in Egypt.

Our report is available here: https://ooni.org/post/2019-egypt-blocks-bbc-and-alhurra/

Mohamed El-Taher translated the report to Arabic: https://moeltaher.net/2019/09/26/%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B1-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%AC%D8%A8...

In the report, we share network measurement data on:

* Blocking of BBC: https://explorer.ooni.org/search?until=2019-09-26&domain=www.bbc.com&...

* Blocking of Alhurra: https://explorer.ooni.org/search?until=2019-09-26&domain=www.alhurra.com...

We corroborated OONI measurements by performing manual curl tests with the help of our local partners, the findings of which we share in the report.

We found that Egyptian ISPs are using Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology that is aware of TLS and which is most likely fingerprinting the SNI field of the TLS handshake.

VPNCompare published a blog post covering our report: https://www.vpncompare.co.uk/ooni-bbc-blocked-egypt/

## Updated test lists

To help improve the quality of measurements, we updated the following test lists:     1. Algeria: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/517

2. Cameroon: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/508

3. Tanzania: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/520

4. Indonesia: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/512

5. Vietnam: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/516

As part of the process of updating the above test lists, we reviewed all of the URLs (i.e. deleted defunct URLs, replaced old URLs with new ones, added HTTPS where appropriate, etc.), fixed the category codes (i.e. changed category codes where required), and added new URLs based on relevant desktop research.

We also made contributions to other test lists:     https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/514 https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/511 https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/510 https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/509%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0 https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/506 https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/502 https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/501 https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/500

## Progress on implementing new OONI Probe nettests

We made significant progress (80%) towards completing the implementation of new OONI Probe nettests.

Specifically, we:

* Added functionality to measure SNI-based blocking: https://github.com/ooni/netx/pull/11

* Completed the ndt7 client for OONI Probe: https://github.com/m-lab/ndt7-client-go/pull/29

* Re-wrote DASH to use HTTPS: https://github.com/neubot/dash

* Extracted timing of network, TLS, HTTP events: https://github.com/ooni/netx/blob/111e220d770f289108af03fc3ee5fdb526e4906a/i..., https://github.com/ooni/netx/blob/111e220d770f289108af03fc3ee5fdb526e4906a/i..., and https://github.com/ooni/netx/blob/111e220d770f289108af03fc3ee5fdb526e4906a/i...

* Implemented DoT and DoH: https://github.com/ooni/netx/tree/master/internal/dnstransport/dnsovertcp and https://github.com/ooni/netx/tree/master/internal/dnstransport/dnsoverhttps

* Got the content of DNS packets (including the DoT and DoH cases): https://github.com/ooni/netx/blob/111e220d770f289108af03fc3ee5fdb526e4906a/i...

## Progress towards stable release of OONI Probe desktop app for Windows and macOS

We made progress on getting the OONI Probe desktop app ready for the stable release.

Specifically, we:     * Completed the implementation of the Web Connectivity measurement screen for the OONI Probe desktop app: https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/pull/44

* Added support for dev tools to aid debugging: https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/pull/43

* Wrapped strings (that are to be translated) in Formatted message to support translations: https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/pull/41

* Upgraded the dependencies of the app to the latest version: https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/pull/40

* Fixed some bugs related to upgrade depedencies: https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/pull/39 & https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/pull/42

The overall progress and next steps towards the stable release of the OONI Probe desktop app can be tracked through our project board: https://github.com/orgs/ooni/projects/4

## Progress towards stable release of OONI Probe Command Line Interface (CLI)

As part of our work towards the stable release of the OONI Probe ClI, we:     * Prepared the v0.1.0 release of probe-engine: https://github.com/ooni/probe-engine/pull/62

* Documented the milestones for the stable probe-cli: https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/milestone/3

## Progress on OONI Probe mobile apps

We continued to make progress towards the public release of OONI Probe mobile v.2.2.0.

Android:     https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/263 https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/262 https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/258%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0 https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/256

iOS:     https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/pull/308 https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/pull/307

## Progress towards reducing the latency of publication of measurements

We continued to make progress towards reducing the latency of the publication of uploaded measurements. This can be viewed through our work on the fast-path: https://github.com/ooni/pipeline/pull/213

The fast-path code has been reviewed and it is currently deployed against active OONI Probe collectors.

The remaining next step is to add support for returning the realtime measurements via OONI API queries, and to support the searching and listing of these measurements in OONI Explorer. This is work in progress: https://github.com/ooni/api/pull/115

## Progress on data processing pipeline heuristics for flagging relevant blocking events for the RSS feed

To flag relevant blocking events via the RSS feed in OONI Explorer, we created a new data pipeline with an internal web app and API for the publication of charts and we worked on integrating the blocking events into the database.

The component implements a new heuristic to analyze past events and infer when URLs become blocked or unblocked with granularity of a country.

Current branch and pull request: https://github.com/ooni/pipeline/pull/228

We expect to have the event engine running soon and we'll then work on publishing it on OONI Explorer.

## Ensuring that our infrastructure is re-deployable

As part of our efforts to ensure that all our infrastructure is re-deployable, we made progress on the following:

* The dom0 bootstrap script has been updated to work with Debian buster: https://github.com/ooni/sysadmin/pull/353

* We dropped the legacy UID scheme to make it easier to deploy machines: https://github.com/ooni/sysadmin/issues/289

* We upgraded matomo to a latest machine, redeploying it: https://github.com/ooni/sysadmin/pull/355 (fixes: https://github.com/ooni/sysadmin/issues/225 & https://github.com/ooni/sysadmin/issues/149)

* Grafana was updated to the latest version: https://github.com/ooni/sysadmin/pull/360

The master ticket with all the hosts that need to be re-deployed is available here: https://github.com/ooni/sysadmin/issues/356

## Improving the availability of our infrastructure

We made progress on improving the availability of our infrastructure. Our plan on how to go forward has been documented in this ticket: https://github.com/ooni/sysadmin/issues/359

Our work on oonifying the probe services is available in this pull request: https://github.com/ooni/sysadmin/pull/361

So far, we have deployed a new web-connectivity test helper and we will oonify the bouncer, collector, and orchestra backends into the same host.

## Community use of OONI data

### OONI data supports court case in Pakistan

Back in November 2017, we reported on the blocking of several media websites, Facebook (facebook.com and Facebook Messenger), YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Telegram in Pakistan amid protests: https://ooni.io/post/how-pakistan-blocked-social-media/

Our report -- which shared OONI network measurement data collected from Pakistan -- was used as evidence in a petition filed in the Islamabad High Court by Pakistan's Media Matters for Democracy (http://mediamatters.pk/), challenging the blocking of media websites and popular social media platforms during the protests.

The petition challenged the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority's (PTA) authority to block websites without due process. Details are available here: http://digitalrightsmonitor.pk/islamabad-high-court-takes-up-petition-filed-...

The petition was filed through Charahgar (http://mediamatters.pk/charahgar/), a legal aid centre that Media Matters for Democracy established with the support of Media Legal Defense Initiative (MLDI).

As an outcome, the Islamabad High Court declared (in September 2019) that the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority's interpretation of Section 37 of PECA is against the Constitution, and that they cannot regulate content without following the due process, the principles of transparency, and oversight. Details are available here: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2061933/1-pta-not-empowered-block-website-ihc/

This is a landmark victory for internet freedom in Pakistan.

### Blocking of change.org in Cuba

Through the use of OONI Probe and OONI data, YucaByte (a Cuban non-profit organization) published a report on the blocking of change.org in Cuba: http://www.yucabyte.org/confirman-bloqueo-changeorg-en-cuba/

Their report (including the use of OONI Probe) received the following press coverage: https://adncuba.com/noticias-de-cuba/tecnologia/confirman-bloqueo-de-la-plat...

### Venezuelan partners nominated for 2019 Gabo Award

Through the use of OONI Probe and OONI data, IPYS Venezuela (along with Venezuela Inteligente / VEsinFiltro) has been monitoring internet censorship in Venezuela since 2014. They have created a network of volunteer OONI Probe users across Venezuela, who coordinate on measuring and reporting on emergent censorship events. Through the use of OONI data, they have published numerous research reports, documenting internet censorship events in Venezuela on an ongoing basis.

Their Intercortados project (https://ipysvenezuela.org/intercortados/) has been nominated for the 2019 Gabo Award, among the 10 best innovation projects.

Further information: https://premioggm.org/premio-gabo/edicion/2019/nominados/ https://premioggm.org/noticias/2019/09/conoce-a-los-40-nominados-al-premio-g... https://twitter.com/Mariengracia/status/1172198403478040580

## Community activities

### Community meeting

We held our monthly community meeting on Slack (https://slack.openobservatory.org/) on Tuesday, 24th September 2019.

During the meeting, we discussed:

1. Launch of revamped OONI Explorer: Update and questions 2. Query speed problem in API 3. OONI Probe testing in Egypt

## Userbase

In September 2019, OONI Probe was run 417,684 times from 5,407 different vantage points in 218 countries around the world.

This information can also be found through our stats: https://api.ooni.io/stats

~ The OONI team.