[tor-project] OONI Monthly Report: August 2024

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Hello,

This email shares OONI’s monthly report for August 2024.

# OONI Monthly Report: August 2024

Throughout August 2024, the OONI team’s work can be tracked through the various OONI GitHub repositories: https://github.com/ooni

Highlights are shared in this report below.

## Published the OONI Outreach Kit in Arabic and Farsi

In August 2024, we published the OONI Outreach Kit in:

Huge thanks to the translators for making the OONI Outreach Kit materials available in Arabic and Farsi, supporting OONI community engagement efforts in the Middle East! The OONI Outreach Kit is also available in English, Russian, French, Spanish, and Swahili (https://ooni.org/support/ooni-outreach-kit/).

## Published report on the blocking of Instagram in Turkiye

On 2nd August 2024, we published a short report on the blocking of Instagram in Turkiye: https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/330022197701

This report shares relevant OONI data and an interpretation of the measurement findings.

## Research report on internet censorship in Kazakhstan

In preparation for the upcoming publication of a research report on internet censorship in Kazakhstan, we continued to review the findings and edit the text accordingly in collaboration with our partner, Internet Freedom Kazakhstan (https://ooni.org/partners/ifkz). Notably, we translated the whole research report in Russian so that we can publish it in both English and Russian, reaching more audiences. We also coordinated with designers to plan the upcoming design of the report in PDFs. We aim to publish this research report in September 2024.

## OONI Probe Mobile

In August 2024, we released OONI Probe 3.8.9 for both Android (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2791) and iOS (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2792).

We also continued making progress on our multi-platform project. Specifically, we identified the initial suite of features we will focus on for our first internal build of the new application. We will use this application for testing, further development and to ensure feature parity with the old application.

We worked on several different features, and some highlights include:

The full list of completed issues can be found here: https://github.com/ooni/probe-multiplatform/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aclosed+closed%3A2024-08

## OONI Probe CLI

In August 2024, we released OONI Probe CLI 3.23.0. The full changelog is available here: https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/releases/tag/v3.23.0

## OONI Probe Desktop

In August 2024, we released OONI Probe Desktop 3.9.7 (https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/releases/tag/v3.9.7) and 3.9.8 (https://github.com/ooni/probe-desktop/releases/tag/v3.9.8).

The latest release integrates the OONI Probe CLI 3.23.0 into OONI Probe Desktop: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2793

## OONI Run

As part of our work on creating the next generation version of OONI Run (“OONI Run v2”), we continued our efforts with QA testing for the Android version of the new OONI Probe app that will include both an improved UI and support for new OONI Run links.

We addressed several bugs and UI improvements:

In preparation for the upcoming launch of OONI Run v2, we:

  • Continued to test OONI Run v2 extensively;
  • Finalized the copy;
  • Wrote a blog post for the announcement of the OONI Run v2 launch (which includes a detailed user guide);
  • Updated the OONI Data Policy to account for changes introduced with OONI Run v2 (https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/pull/1601);
  • Updated all documentation across our website to ensure the correct OONI Run domain (https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/pull/1602).

## OONI Explorer

In August 2024, we worked on revising the navigation bar for OONI Explorer: https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/938

We wanted to do this because the current navigation bar is fairly crowded and we will eventually need the ability to add more items to it in the near future. We will launch this in the coming months.

## OONI Backend

We finished setting up integration tests for a framework to allow us to A/B test our improved APIs more effectively: https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/856

We updated the OONI Explorer Findings platform to use postgresql to store findings, since our Clickhouse database is not backed up. This helps improve the stability of this feature: https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/855

We also finished the core refactor of our measurements service, which implements improved API principles ensuring ease-of-use and stability of the API: https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/851

## Automating censorship detection and characterization based on OONI measurements

In August 2024, several important improvements were landed inside of the main branch of the OONI data pipeline v5.

Specifically, we worked towards releasing the OONI Pipeline v5.0.0-alpha.3 (https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/81) which includes the following improvements:

  • Switched to threaded workers via co-routines;
  • Removed unused commands;
  • Removed unused and dead code;
  • Added support for update assets from s3 instead of archive.org;
  • Removed file based locking for asset updates;
  • Added alter queries for buffer tables in DB migration helper;
  • Fixed bug in database migration generation;
  • Addressed issues related to setting workflow and schedule IDs to facilitate re-running backfills;
  • Properly set the transaction_id for more modern tests that support it (eg. web_connectivity 0.5).

We then worked towards making a release candidate for OONI Pipeline v5. As part of this, in order to empower our team to view the new observations, we developed a simple web interface for viewing observations and plotting them in charts: https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/83

We also started experimenting with a Bayesian network based approach to analysis which is implemented as several notebooks inside of the following pull request: https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/85

## Hiring process for OONI Junior Backend Developer job opening

As part of the hiring process for a new OONI Junior Backend Developer (https://ooni.org/post/2024-job-opening-ooni-backend-developer/), we continued to review incoming applications, track applications, follow-up with applicants, and interview shortlisted candidates.

## Test list updates

We reviewed and merged updates to the test list for Myanmar: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1754

## Updated Nepal report following the unblocking of TikTok

We updated our previous report on the blocking of TikTok in Nepal to include OONI data and information in relation to the unblocking of the service: https://explorer.ooni.org/findings/112092297601

## Rapid response

### Blocking of Signal in Russia, Venezuela, and Pakistan

In response to the blocking of the Signal Private Messenger app in Russia, Venezuela, and Pakistan (which was blocked in all 3 countries in August 2024), we shared relevant OONI data and information on social media channels: https://x.com/OpenObservatory/status/1828028323269611553

### Blocking of Twitter/X in Tanzania

In response to the blocking of Twitter/X in Tanzania, we shared relevant OONI data and information on social media channels: https://x.com/OpenObservatory/status/1829600571327914094

## Citations

### USENIX paper on measuring the Great Firewall’s web censorship at scale

In August 2024, researchers from the University of British Columbia, University of Chicago, University of Toronto, Carnegie Mellon University, SRI International and Stony Brook University wrote a paper (“GFWeb: Measuring the Great Firewall’s Web Censorship at Scale”) which was published by USENIX.

Their paper cites OONI quite extensively, and it’s available here: https://www.usenix.org/system/files/usenixsecurity24-hoang.pdf

### Global Voices article on Instagram block in Turkiye

Global Voices published an article on the blocking of Instagram in Turkiye, citing OONI data: https://globalvoices.org/2024/08/02/turkey-blocks-access-to-instagram/

### Report on Internet shutdowns in Tanzania

Our partner, Zaina Foundation, published a report on internet shutdowns in Tanzania, which is available here: https://zainafoundationtz.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TZReport-on-Internet-Shutdown-Incident-Twitter.pdf

As part of their report, they cite OONI data (and include an OONI MAT chart) on the blocking of Twitter/X in Tanzania.

### RSF Resource for Journalists on OONI Probe and OONI Explorer

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published an article about OONI Probe and OONI Explorer as part of their resources for journalists: https://safety.rsf.org/ooni-a-tool-to-check-whether-an-online-service-is-being-blocked/

## Measurement coverage

In August 2024, 60,819,022 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 3,238 networks in 170 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.