[ooni-talk] [New Report] Zambia blocks social media amid 2021 general election

[Maria Xynou]

Hello,

Today we published a new report titled: "*Zambia: Social media blocked amid
2021 general elections*".

You can read the report 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.

OONI data on the testing of the WhatsApp mobile app and web interface (
web.whatsapp.com), Twitter and Facebook domains shows that:

* Starting on 12th August 2021 (election day), all services started to
present anomalies (but were accessible in previous years, up until 11th
August 2021);

* All services presented the same *HTTP failures caused by connection
timeouts during the TLS handshake*, suggesting the potential use of Deep
Packet Inspection (DPI) technology;

* Connection timeouts (during the TLS handshake) were observed on *at least
7 AS networks* in Zambia;

* Accessibility was restored by 14th August 2021 (and all subsequent
measurements show that they remain accessible).

The fact that WhatsApp, Twitter, and Facebook presented the same timing in
terms of connectivity failures, and that they presented the same connection
timeouts during the TLS handshake, suggests:

* Coordination (among ISPs) in the implementation of social media blocks;

* ISPs in Zambia implemented social media blocks using the same censorship
techniques (further suggesting the use of specific censorship technology).

Moreover, the timing of anomalies presented in OONI network measurement
data is corroborated by widespread media reports and user reports from the
ground on the blocking of these specific social media services.

We thank OONI Probe users in Zambia who contributed measurements,
supporting this study.

~ OONI team.
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