[tor-project] OONI Monthly Report: February 2024

[Maria Xynou]

Hello,

This email shares OONI's monthly report for February 2024.

*# OONI Monthly Report: February 2024*

Throughout February 2024, the OONI team worked on the following sprints:

* Sprint 110 (1st-11th February 2024)
* Sprint 111 (12th - 25th February 2024)

Our work can be tracked through the various OONI GitHub repositories:
https://github.com/ooni

Highlights are shared in this report below.

*## New partnership with Digital Rights Foundation Pakistan*

In February 2024, we had the opportunity to formally establish a
partnership with Digital Rights Foundation (
https://digitalrightsfoundation.pk/), a leading digital rights organization
in Pakistan. As part of this partnership, we aim to collaborate on the
study of internet censorship.

*## Published report on blocks in Pakistan ahead of 2024 elections*

In February 2024, we published a report (based on OONI data) on the
blocking of an investigative news platform (Fact Focus), as well as on the
blocking of PTI political party websites in Pakistan leading up to the
country’s 2024 general election.

The report is available here:
https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/108298926901

*## Published FOCI paper on EU internet sanctions on Russian media*

In collaboration with researchers from the University of Illinois Chicago,
the University of Twente and the University of Amsterdam, we co-authored a
paper which analyzes how different ISPs in EU member states implement
sanctions on Russian media.

This paper (which made extensive use of OONI data) was published by FOCI in
February 2024: https://petsymposium.org/foci/2024/foci-2024-0001.pdf

SIDN Labs published a blog post, providing a summary of the paper:
https://www.sidnlabs.nl/en/news-and-blogs/internet-sanctions-on-russian-media-diverging-actions-and-mixed-effects

This blog post was cross-posted on the OONI blog:
https://ooni.org/post/2024-eu-sanctions/

*## OONI Probe Mobile*

We released OONI Probe Mobile 3.8.6 on iOS:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/releases/tag/v3.8.6

The latest version includes an important fix for the data quality of the
Signal Private Messenger App experiment results. The Signal experiment fix
is also available in the latest versions of OONI Probe Android (3.8.6),
OONI Probe Desktop (3.9.3), and OONI Probe CLI. As part of the OONI Probe
iOS 3.8.6 release, we also fixed an issue with RTL language support on the
iOS app (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2578), and we made several
other bug fixes and improvements.

To enable the localization of Deutsche Welle’s News Media Scan app (
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dw.ooniprobe), we added
support for Transifex in the app (
https://github.com/ooni/translations/pull/32).

*## OONI Run*

As part of our work on creating the next generation version of OONI Run
(“OONI Run v2”), there were several key activities we undertook this month.

The main highlight is that we officially started QA testing for the Android
version of the new OONI Probe app that has both an improved UI and support
for new OONI Run links. This is a big next step in the progress for this
project! Thus far, we completed a major initial testing pass to test the
new user-interface. We also started QA testing for the new OONI Run v2
dashboard, which will allow users to create and maintain their OONI Run
links.

Some other highlights worth noting:
 * We ensured alignment between the spec and backend (
https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/787) and we refactored the API as a
result (https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/788);
* We started implementing support for OONI Run v2 in the iOS app (
https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/1518).

*## OONI Probe CLI*

Most of the OONI Probe CLI development work in February 2024 was focused on
continuing to bring Web Connectivity v0.5 to production (as documented
further in the next section).

We also:

* Added Wikimedia DNS as a DNS-over-HTTPS session resolver (
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2532);
* Reworked the code to generate summaries and made it more robust and safe (
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2667);
* Improved building tor as a library to make it work under ArchLinux (
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2651);
* Reworked test case generation for our QA suite to reduce churn and
simplify the process of spotting bugs (
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2677);
* Fixed a bug in the test lists Gardener script to avoid trusting a URL
database that has become stale (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2684).

*## Creating a methodology for measuring throttling*

To measure throttling more effectively, we need to ship Web Connectivity
v0.5, which is based on an underlying measurement library specifically
designed to collect additional throttling-related information and, more
generally, easier-to-process measurements. To this end, we continued our
efforts to ensure a high standard of data quality for Web Connectivity v0.5
and made progress on our plans for rolling it out to production.

Specifically, we:

* Fixed a regression introduced in a previous release where Web
Connectivity v0.5 was missing network events (
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2674).
* Refined the functionality to read partial response bodies when
interrupted by a timeout (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2654), which
is relevant for throttling.
* Ensured Web Connectivity v0.5 counted the bytes sent and received (
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2655).
* Made some updates to the Web Connectivity v0.5 specification (
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2666).
* Added the `tcptls_experiment` tag that was missing in Web Connectivity
v0.5 to be backward compatible with v0.4 (
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2673).
* Addressed an issue that left the `client_resolver` field empty to ensure
backward compatibility with v0.4 (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2676
).
* Addressed a list of to-do items to clean up, refactor and add tests to
the codebase (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2669) which included:
    * Implementing DNS cache expiration for the DNS whoami code used by Web
Connectivity v0.5 so that we can periodically update our understanding of
the DNS we’re using (https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1499).
    * Using a random DNS-over-UDP resolver drawn from a list of well known
resolvers (rather than using 8.8.4.4) in response to community feedback (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1500).

*## OONI Design System*

As part of our work on the OONI design system (
https://github.com/ooni/design-system/), we upgraded dependencies and
configured storybook to use Vite instead of Webpack (
https://github.com/ooni/design-system/pull/172), which makes Storybook
faster and requires less configuration. We also replaced Eslint and
Prettier with Biome for code linting and formatting (
https://github.com/ooni/design-system/pull/173), which is all part of
maintenance work to simplify the repository.

We explored different frameworks for building and maintaining frontend
components. To this end, we created two different examples of Button
component implementation, using two of the most popular approaches in 2024:
* TailwindCSS as an example of utility-first CSS library, using Class
Variance Authority (https://github.com/ooni/design-system/pull/170);
* Vanilla-Extract as an example of zero-runtime CSS-in-TS (
https://github.com/ooni/design-system/pull/171).

*## OONI Explorer*

To identify which censorship findings would be most useful (for the
internet freedom community) to present on OONI Explorer (
https://explorer.ooni.org/), we organized a user research study (
https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/1543) so that we can better
understand the habits and needs of our community (and determine how best to
present this information on OONI Explorer).

In February 2024, we drafted and finalized the user research survey, and we
prepared for the user research interviews. We disseminated the survey and
conducted user research interviews in March 2024.

*## Test list updates*

Ahead of Pakistan’s 2024 general elections, we updated the Citizen Lab test
list for Pakistan: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1651

*## Research collaborations with partners on upcoming reports*

In February 2024, we continued to coordinate with our partners on research
efforts required for upcoming research reports. Specifically, we
coordinated with our partners on extensive updates to the Citizen Lab test
lists for Russia, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, and Iran. Each of these test list
updates has a thematic focus based on the specific research questions of
each (upcoming) research report.

*## Planning the OONI Partner Gathering 2024*

In preparation for the upcoming OONI Partner Gathering in Malaysia in May
2024, we continued to coordinate with the travel agency on booking flights
for participants and other travel logistics. We also continued to
coordinate with participants and the hotel on numerous other logistics.

*## Updated the OONI Data Policy*

On 23rd February 2024, we updated the OONI Data Policy:
https://ooni.org/about/data-policy

As part of this update, we replaced the use of Matomo analytics with Umami
analytics. The Data Policy changes are visible here:
https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/pull/1550/files



*## Rapid response efforts### Blocking of TikTok in Senegal*

Starting from (at least) 25th January 2024, OONI data suggests that Senegal
had been blocking access to TikTok. OONI data shows that the block was
primarily visible on Sonatel (AS8346), and appears to have been implemented
by means of TLS interference.

In response, we posted about the block on Twitter/X (
https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1754944166130327716) and we
shared relevant OONI data with local partners and advocacy groups.

*### Unblocking of social media in Guinea*

On 23rd February 2024, we reported the unblocking of social media platforms
in Guinea on Twitter/X (
https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1761049064752177282) and shared
relevant OONI data and information with advocacy groups.

We had previously published a report on the blocking of social media
platforms in Guinea, sharing OONI data on the blocking of WhatsApp,
Telegram, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube (
https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/296303006301). OONI data shows that the
blocks lasted between 24th November 2023 to 22nd February 2024.



*## OONI citations### Tor Project blog post about defending internet
freedom during elections in 2024*

In February 2024, the Tor Project published a blog post about defending
internet freedom with Tor during elections in 2024. As part of this blog
post, they cite OONI research reports documenting censorship events that
emerged during previous elections in countries around the world, and
encourage the use of OONI tools and data.

Their blog post is available here:
https://blog.torproject.org/2024-defend-internet-freedom-during-elections/

*### CPJ statement on West African lawsuit against Senegal internet
shutdowns*

In February 2024, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) published a
statement on the lawsuit filed against Senegal at the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice challenging Senegal’s
internet shutdowns in 2023. This statement cites OONI’s research report,
which documented social media blocks and network outages in Senegal during
political unrest in 2023 (
https://ooni.org/post/2023-senegal-social-media-blocks/).

CPJ’s statement is available here:
https://cpj.org/2024/02/cpj-welcomes-west-african-lawsuit-against-senegal-internet-shutdowns/

*## OONI Community Meeting*

On 27th February 2024, we hosted the monthly OONI Community Meeting on our
Slack channel (https://slack.ooni.org/).

The topic of this meeting was “Litigation against internet censorship and
shutdowns”, and we invited the following speakers:
 * Natalia Krapiva, Tech-Legal Counsel, Access Now
 * Toby Mendel, Executive Director of the Centre for Law and Democracy
 * Yelzhan Kabyshev, Director, Internet Freedom Kazakhstan (IFKZ)
 * Unggul Sagena, Head of Internet Access Division, Southeast Asia Freedom
of Expression Network (SAFEnet)

As part of this meeting, our invited guests shared their experiences from
litigating against cases of internet censorship and internet shutdowns,
while other community members who participated in the meeting shared
questions (https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep).

*## Measurement coverage*

In February 2024, 57,616,784 OONI Probe measurements were collected from
2,981 networks in 173 countries around the world.

This information can also be found through our measurement stats on OONI
Explorer (see chart on “monthly coverage worldwide”):
https://explorer.ooni.org/

~ OONI team.
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