ONI (IN PROGRESS)

What is ONI?
Is a collaborative partnership of three institutions: the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto; the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University; and the SecDev Group (Ottawa).

What is the aim of ONI?
Their aim is to investigate, expose and analyze Internet filtering in a credible and non-partisan way.

We intend to uncover the unintended consequences of these practices, and thus help to inform better public policy and advocacy work.

1) TECHNICAL BLOCKING
There are three commonly used techniques to block access to Internet sites: IP blocking, DNS tampering, and URL blocking using a proxy. These techniques are used to block access to specific WebPages, domains, or IP addresses.

2) SEARCH RESULT REMOVALS
Rather than blocking access to the targeted sites, this strategy makes finding the sites more difficult.

3) TAKE-DOWN
Where authorities have control of domain name servers, officials can deregister a domain that is hosting restricted content, making the website invisible to the browsers of users seeking to access the site.

4) INDUCED SELF-CENSORSHIP
An effective strategy to limit exposure to Internet content is by encouraging self-censorship both in browsing habits and in choosing content to post online.

Points of control
Internet filtration can occur at any or all of the following four nodes in network:

1) INTERNET BACKBONE
State-directed implementation of national content filtering schemes and blocking technologies may be carried out at the backbone level, affecting Internet access throughout an entire country.

2) INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS
Government-mandated filtering is most commonly implemented by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) using any one or combination of the technical filtering techniques mentioned above.

3) INSTITUTIONS
Filtering of institutional level networks using technical blocking and/or induced self-censorship occurs in companies, government organizations, schools and cybercafés. In some countries, this takes place at the behest of the government.

4) INDIVIDUAL COMPUTERS
Home or individual computer level filtering can be achieved through the installation of filtering software that restricts an individual computer’s ability to access certain sites.