[tor-project] OONI Monthly Report: May 2019

Thu Jun 6 10:16:52 UTC 2019

Hello,

Below is OONI's monthly report for May 2019.

## Beta release of revamped OONI Explorer

Over the last year (thanks to Mozilla Open Source Support), we have been
working on revamping OONI Explorer entirely.

The code for the next generation OONI Explorer is available here:
https://github.com/ooni/explorer

This has involved re-writing all of the OONI Explorer codebase in
react.js (using next.js), re-designing the platform entirely to improve
its UX, creating a more powerful search tool (which required a series of
improvements to the OONI data processing pipeline), and adding a number
of new features (based on community requests).

In January 2019, we conducted a usability study with several experienced
OONI Explorer users to collect their feedback in the more initial stages
of design and development.

We released a beta of the revamped OONI Explorer in April 2019. The beta
of the revamped OONI Explorer is available here:
https://explorer-beta.ooni.io/

In May 2019, we engaged our partners and community members with beta
testing and spent the month addressing bugs and making improvements in
preparation for the upcoming stable release.

If you notice any bugs or issues, please file Github tickets or send an
email to bugs at openobservatory.org.

## Beta release of OONI Probe Command Line Interface (CLI) and Desktop App

We released the first beta of the OONI Probe desktop app for Windows and
macOS: https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/releases/tag/v3.0.0-beta.3

We also released a new beta of the OONI Probe CLI:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/releases/tag/v3.0.0-beta.3

If you notice any bugs or issues, please file Github tickets or send an
email to bugs+desktop at openobservatory.org.

## New measurement engine in Go

Measurement Kit (https://github.com/measurement-kit) is our measurement
library that powers the OONI Probe (mobile and desktop) apps. In May
2019, we started writing a new measurement engine in Go to better
support the integration of new nettests (such as the new OONI Probe test
for Psiphon) and to generally improve its agility.

The code for this engine is available here:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-engine

As of 31st May 2019, this new engine contains code to communicate with
OONI servers and two nettests implemented in Go: ndt7 and Psiphon
(discussed below). This new engine also includes code for exporting
Measurement Kit network tests to Go code.

## ndt7 test

ndt7 is a next generation speed test that will replace the NDT test
currently included in the OONI Probe mobile app.

In May 2019, we finished writing the ndt7 client (see
https://github.com/m-lab/ndt7-client-go/pull/4) and integrating it into
ooni/probe-engine.

## Psiphon test

The ooni/probe-engine uses the Psiphon client library to implement a new
nettest which checks whether Psiphon is able to create a tunnel and
whether this tunnel could be used to fetch web resources over the internet.

See: https://github.com/ooni/probe-engine/tree/master/experiment/psiphon

## OONI Probe mobile app

In preparation for the 2.1.0 release, we made a series of improvements
to the OONI Probe mobile apps.

On Android:

https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/226
https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/227
https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/228
https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/pull/230

On iOS:

https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/pull/276
https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/pull/277
https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/pull/278
https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/pull/279
https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/pull/280
https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/pull/281

## Report on blocking of Wikipedia in China

In collaboration with Taiwan's Open Culture Foundation (OCF) and China's
iYouPort, we published a report on the blocking of all Wikipedia
language editions in China:
https://ooni.torproject.org/post/2019-china-wikipedia-blocking/

Thanks to our local collaborators, we were also able to publish a
Chinese version of the report on our site:
https://ooni.torproject.org/post/2019-china-wikipedia-blocking.zh/

The report was also published by iYouPort:
https://www.iyouport.org/2019-china-wikipedia-blocking/

The report received press coverage from the following:

* BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48269608

* TIME: http://time.com/5589439/china-wikipedia-online-censorship/

* The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/05/15/china-bans-wikipedia-all-languages/

* CNET:
https://www.cnet.com/news/the-great-firewall-of-china-blocks-off-wikipedia/

* National Post:
https://nationalpost.com/news/world/china-bans-wikipedia-before-30th-anniversary-of-1989-tiananmen-square-uprising

* NewTalk Taiwan: https://newtalk.tw/news/view/2019-05-15/246945

* Liberty Times Net: https://ec.ltn.com.tw/article/breakingnews/2791325

* Solidot podcast (Chinese website): https://www.solidot.org/story?sid=60516

* Alternatywa:
https://alternatywa.net.pl/chiny-zaczely-blokowac-wikipedie-w-kazdym-jezyku/

* La Revue Internationale:
https://www.revue-internationale.com/2019/05/wikipedia-censure-en-chine/

OONI's Arturo discussed the blocking of Wikipedia in China (and Turkey)
with ABC Radio Australia:
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/pm/wikipedia-takes-turkey-to-european-human-rights-court/11145694

The Top10VPN site also published an article covering our research:
https://www.top10vpn.com/news/censorship/all-language-editions-of-wikipedia-now-blocked-in-china/

## Report on internet censorship in Nigeria

In collaboration with our Nigerian partners, Paradigm Initiative, we
co-published a research report measuring network interference during
Nigeria's 2019 general elections.

Our joint research report is available via the following sites:

* OONI: https://ooni.io/post/2019-nigeria-internet-censorship/ (includes
full OONI analysis)

* Paradigm Initiative:
https://paradigmhq.org/download/the-2019-nigerian-elections-through-the-lens-of-digital-rights/
(includes full PDF - but with summary of OONI analysis)

### Blocking of social media in Indonesia

During post-election protests, access to social media was reportedly
blocked in Indonesia.

We coordinated with local community members on OONI Probe tests and
confirmed the blocking of WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Telegram by
means of DNS on some ISPs.

We also found that it was possible to circumvent the blocks by enabling
encrypted DNS.

We generated a chart based on our data analysis, which we shared with
the community:
https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1131207330366992384

We also shared our analysis used to produce the chart:
https://gist.github.com/hellais/0166d1059d4055057b25b2f6ceddda76

## Community use of OONI data

### Report on blocking of thousands of websites in Egypt

AFTE, our Egyptian partners, published a research report on the
collateral blocking of thousands of websites in Egypt:
https://afteegypt.org/en/digital_freedoms-2/publications_digital_freedoms-digital_freedoms-en/2019/05/19/17500-afteegypt.html

The use of OONI Probe and OONI data supported this research.

### Report comparing internet censorship in Russia and Crimea during
election period

OTF Information Controls Fellows Ksenia Ermoshina and Igor Valentovitch
carried out research examining internet censorship in Russia and Crimea
through the use of OONI Probe and OONI data.

Their research report, "Measuring Internet Censorship in Disputed Areas:
An examination of online media filtering in Russia and Crimea during the
2018 Russian presidential elections", is published on the OTF website:
https://www.opentech.fund/news/exploring-online-media-filtering-during-2018-russian-presidential-elections/

## Community activities

### Media for Democracy Forum

OONI's Arturo traveled to Washington, DC, to participate at the Media
for Democracy Forum (organized by USAGM) on 7th May 2019.

Arturo presented OONI and discussed media censorship on the panel "New
and Emerging Threats to Media Freedom: What's Next?".

Information about the event is available here:
https://www.usagm.gov/2019/05/07/media-for-democracy-forum/

### Global Media Forum

OONI's Arturo and Maria traveled to Bonn, Germany, to participate at the
Global Media Forum (organized by Deutsche Welle) on 27th & 28th May 2019.

Information about the event is available here:
https://dw-global-media-forum.com/

### Community meeting

We held the monthly OONI community meeting on our Slack channel
(https://slack.openobservatory.org/) on Friday, 31st May 2019.

As part of the meeting, we discussed issues related to failed
measurements and (accessing and sharing relevant) logs, as well as
strategies and next steps in better supporting OONI Probe users who run
into networking issues.

We also shared updates with regards to OONI's new system for sharing the
OONI metadb with third parties, recent research reports, and upcoming
sessions at RightsCon.

## Userbase

In May 2019, OONI Probe was run 355,293 times from 5,159 different
vantage points in 215 countries around the world.

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

~ OONI team.

-- 
Maria Xynou
Research & Partnerships Director
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.torproject.org/
PGP Key Fingerprint: 2DC8 AFB6 CA11 B552 1081 FBDE 2131 B3BE 70CA 417E

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