13:58:46 <hellais> #startmeeting OONI Community Meeting 2018-11-27
13:58:46 <MeetBot> Meeting started Tue Nov 27 13:58:46 2018 UTC.  The chair is hellais. Information about MeetBot at http://wiki.debian.org/MeetBot.
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13:59:11 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> Hi everyone! Welcome to the November OONI Community Meeting :slightly_smiling_face: :ooni:
13:59:22 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> Who's joined us today?
14:00:09 <slacktopus> <arsalan> Hello everyone its Arsalan from Bytes for All, Pakistan. I have added a topic on meeting pad just now. Should I post it here too?
14:00:19 <slacktopus> <arsalan> And how are you?
14:00:35 <slacktopus> <hellais> :wave:
14:01:02 <slacktopus> <arsalan> @hellais :wave:
14:01:16 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> Hello @arsalan! Thanks for joining us and for proposing a topic :slightly_smiling_face: I don't see it in the pad though... Can you please list it under ## Tuesday 2018-11-27 14:00 UTC?
14:01:31 <slacktopus> <arsalan> Sure let me do it
14:01:39 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> thanks :slightly_smiling_face:
14:02:12 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> Everyone else who joins is encouraged to introduce themselves or wave
14:02:30 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> In the meanwhile, we could get started with @arsalan’s topic
14:02:37 <slacktopus> <arsalan> @agrabeli Can you see it now?
14:02:49 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> @arsalan yep :+1:
14:02:58 <slacktopus> <arsalan> :+1:
14:03:01 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> #1. Post-court verdict scenerio of cellular services suspension in Pakistan
14:03:18 <slacktopus> <sarath_ms> :wave: Sarath here. From the OONI team
14:03:29 <slacktopus> <arsalan> Yes. I can start with the background of this topic after the introduction.
14:04:45 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> @arsalan please go ahead with providing background
14:05:58 <slacktopus> <tunde77> Tunde here from Paradigm Initiative
14:08:26 <slacktopus> <arsalan> Okay so Islamabad High Court declared suspension of mobile services in Pakistan, illegal without giving prior reasoning and notification. As per telecommunication law of the country: Cellular services can only be suspended if head of state declares emergency in country. That was key point of this case. But soon after the decision which came on 26 February, 2018, mobile services was suspended on multiple occasions including Pakistan day Parade,
14:08:26 <slacktopus> Chehlum and other such events. So I think it could be a good platform to discuss how we can take forward our campaign on censorship even if we won it on legal grounds.
14:08:35 <slacktopus> <arsalan> Sorry I took a lot of time to type :slightly_smiling_face:
14:10:47 <slacktopus> <arsalan> Mobile services have been suspended on every major occasion in country and over 5 instances have ben recorded when mobile services were blocked and couple of time internet services too
14:10:54 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> @arsalan Thanks for sharing this information, it's very concerning to hear that mobile services are suspended even without the declaration of state of emergency, and during parades and protests... :S Have mobile services been shutdown completely in those cases, or where there times where it was hard to access/use the internet...?
14:12:51 <slacktopus> <arsalan> Yes its very concerning for us too. It is a blanket shutdown. You can't access anything except landline phone or internet (On some occasion, that is also suspended). Apart from communication gap, internet cab services, local businesses are badly affected due to inaccessibility to signals.
14:14:07 <slacktopus> <arsalan> Once you are nearby the suspended zone, which has been very advanced with every passing day as now they can block services for small to large zones easily, there are issues in connecting but once you go in those areas, its cross on the signal bar.
14:14:28 <slacktopus> <hellais> @arsalan do you have more details as to what happens on the mobile phone side of things? As in are they literally shutting down the towers (you see zero bars) or you can connect, but then internet or phone doesn’t work?
14:14:56 <slacktopus> <hellais> Or is it working, but it only supporting doing emergency calls?
14:16:12 <slacktopus> <sarath_ms> > but once you go in those areas, its cross on the signal bar This seems like a full shutdown of the towers
14:16:32 <slacktopus> <arsalan> I can check the towers thing but once the services are suspended you can't access any emergency services too. Most of our emergency services are privately owned. They have UAN numbers but not such emergency numbers.
14:18:17 <slacktopus> <arsalan> Few of the times (rarely) signals appear on few service providers but you can't connect. We have 5 service providers (private) here so none of them clearly tell the people why services are suspended or by what time it will comeback. We only watch it in news about timings.
14:18:53 <slacktopus> <hellais> I see
14:19:43 <slacktopus> <hellais> If this happens again, it would be interesting and useful, if you could install on an Android phone a tool like this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.carknue.gmon2&hl=en and collect some data on what is happening there
14:23:11 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> @arsalan It's great to hear that legally this situation is being challenged! Perhaps getting private businesses affected by these shutdowns to push back too would help? In terms of measuring blackouts, unfortunately OONI Probe is not there yet, but perhaps the tool mentioned by @hellais could help provide some insight.
14:24:06 <slacktopus> <arsalan> Yes i just have installed it on my phone. I will get into this and will surely write back the feedback or anything I get on it.
14:24:53 <slacktopus> <hellais> Yeah, if there is a mobile phone suspension it would be useful for you to run that while it’s happening, but also before and after, and share with me either screenshots or the data dumps the app provides (ideally both)
14:24:55 <slacktopus> <arsalan> I have a question, a simple one does this app also support 3G/2G/Edge & GPRS?
14:25:24 <slacktopus> <hellais> This can help us map what is the state of the infrastructure during those situations
14:26:33 <slacktopus> <hellais> It should support whatever the phone supports (I believe it’s just calling the Android API calls related to the Telephony subsystem)
14:28:06 <slacktopus> <arsalan> Great it would be interesting. Most of the areas have 3G/2G connectivity except major cities. I would try using it and will surely send what I get on it.
14:32:36 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> @arsalan thanks! Best of luck (:crossed_fingers:) and please keep us updated. Is there anything else you wanted to discuss on this topic? Is there some other way we can be helpful...?
14:33:28 <slacktopus> <arsalan> I would love to share updates on this. And I think that's all from my end for the moment but I will stay in touch on this.
14:33:52 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> @arsalan great, thank you.
14:34:10 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> Let's proceed with @tunde77’s topic:
14:34:17 <slacktopus> <tunde77> Great!
14:34:22 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> # 2. Censorship measurement research during (and leading up to) the DRC's upcoming December elections
14:34:46 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> @tunde77 would you like to share some words?
14:35:50 <slacktopus> <tunde77> Yes, I'm seeking to know if OONI has plans in place to conduct censorship research around the elections, giving the history of censorship in the country
14:36:23 <slacktopus> <tunde77> I'm a researcher of Internet censorship in the region so my interest
14:37:07 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> @tunde77 thanks. Yes, we're coordinating with locals in the DRC who are running OONI Probe tests (somewhat daily). :slightly_smiling_face:
14:37:21 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> An important aspect of this research though would be to better determine which websites to test...
14:37:57 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> Currently the DRC test list is quite tiny: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/blob/master/lists/cd.csv
14:38:15 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> As in it only includes 11 websites at the moment.... :slightly_smiling_face:
14:39:47 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> Internationally-relevant websites, included in the global list (https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/blob/master/lists/global.csv), are also tested in the DRC. But it would be important to identify more local websites to test, particularly those hosting content that is relevant to the elections, and that host content that could potentially be blocked by authorities (in light of the political situation)...
14:40:58 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> So we would *very much* appreciate it if those who are knowledge-able in relation to the DRC could please contribute to its test list: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/blob/master/lists/cd.csv
14:41:22 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> If you're not a GitHub user, you can email the URLs you want to get added directly to me at maria@openobservatory.org.
14:42:03 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> In December we're hoping to launch the revamped OONI Probe mobile apps, which will support testing URLs included in both the global & country-specific test lists.
14:43:02 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> A tool though which is quite powerful in terms of coordinating censorship testing with others (particularly if they're based in a different country, region, or using a different ISP) is OONI Run: https://run.ooni.io/
14:43:37 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> Essentially, you can add all the sites you want to get tested in the DRC in the URL slots of OONI Run, generate a link, and then share that link with your contacts in the DRC.
14:44:01 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> Those contacts should already have the OONI Probe mobile apps installed, so that they can use them to test the sites of your choice.
14:44:50 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> Many other community members have used OONI Run links as part of coordinating censorship testing during elections.... For example, Sinar Project have done an amazing job at sharing testing links with people all across Southeast Asia during election periods this year
14:45:20 <slacktopus> <tunde77> Thanks Maria for the headsup!
14:46:46 <slacktopus> <tunde77> I'm a bit disappointed with the low number of websites on the DRC test list, but hopefully we can mobilize for this together.
14:47:44 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> @tunde77 I plan to carry out some desktop research over the next month to update that test list. But if you and others (who are far more knowledgeable than I am!) can help, that would very much be appreciated. :slightly_smiling_face:
14:48:11 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> This is a super important component of the research, as the results will only be as interesting as the websites that are tested. :slightly_smiling_face:
14:48:26 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> (The same is true for all other countries and test lists as well)
14:49:03 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> Then, of course, it's a question of community engagement in terms of actually running OONI Probe locally....
14:49:44 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> As censorship often differs from region to region, and from ISP to ISP, the more people we can get to run tests in as many different regions and connected to as many different ISPs as possible, the better....
14:50:35 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> It's also important to be proactive => As soon as we hear of something reportedly blocked or people facing difficulty accessing it, quickly generating and sharing an OONI Run link to get it tested.
14:52:18 <slacktopus> <tunde77> Great Maria! Let's do this for Congo, and for Nigeria in February 2019!
14:52:36 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> @tunde77 sounds great! :+1:
14:52:52 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> @tunde77 was there anything else you wanted to discuss..?
14:53:09 <slacktopus> <tunde77> No, that's all for now
14:53:37 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> Ok, thanks.
14:53:50 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> So we have 5 minutes left => I wanted to share some updates from the OONI team
14:54:18 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> 1. We have released the *public beta* of the revamped OONI Probe mobile apps! You can get it:
14:54:27 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> On Android:  * Sign up to the beta: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/org.openobservatory.ooniprobe>  * Update your OONI Probe mobile app (to get the public beta) from Google Play  On iOS:  * Tap on this link from your device and follow the instructions: <https://testflight.apple.com/join/rh3Ig7fE
14:55:04 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> ^^ This is an opportunity to try out the new apps & share your feedback with us, so that we can improve them before the stable release! :)
14:55:57 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> 2. We are now in the process of *translating* the revamped mobile apps! We would *very much* appreciate it if you folks could please help us translate the apps into as many languages as possible, to support communities far and wide!
14:56:40 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> If this interests you, please join transifex (where we're coordinating translations): https://www.transifex.com/otf/ooniprobe/
14:57:06 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> To help with translations, we wrote some brief guidelines: https://github.com/ooni/translations/blob/master/Guidelines.md
14:57:35 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> So far... the new apps have only been translated to Greek! :P
14:58:04 <slacktopus> <tunde77> <3
14:58:46 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> Are there any questions in relation to the updates...?
14:59:03 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> Or is there something anyone else wanted to share/discuss...?
14:59:35 <slacktopus> <tunde77> Nope
15:00:38 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> Alright. Well if you - in any moment - have questions in relation to translation etc., please reach out to me or anyone else from OONI on this channel. :slightly_smiling_face:
15:01:29 <slacktopus> <agrabeli> Thanks so much everyone for joining this meeting! Hope you enjoy the rest of your day/night :)
15:02:06 <slacktopus> <tunde77> :ok_hand:
15:02:28 <hellais> #endmeeting