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NetBlocks

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NetBlocks
Formation2017; 8 years ago (2017)
FounderAlp Toker
TypeSocial business
HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
MethodsTechnology journalism
Websitenetblocks.org

NetBlocks is a watchdog organization that monitors cybersecurity and the governance of the Internet.[1][2] The service was launched in 2017 to monitor global internet freedom.[3] It was founded by British technologist and human rights advocate Alp Toker.[1]

Work

Projects

NetBlocks publishes original reporting on internet governance and sustainable energy, providing tools to the public to observe possible internet blocks and to estimate the economic consequences of network disruptions.[4][5]

Events

On 25 November 2017, NetBlocks and Digital Rights Foundation provided information about the nationwide censorship of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media services by the Pakistani government following the Tehreek-e-Labaik protests.[6][7][8]

During the 2018–2019 Sudanese protests, NetBlocks stated that the Sudanese government maintains "an extensive Internet censorship regime" following the censorship of social media websites in the country.[9] Following the 2019 Gabonese coup d'état attempt, NetBlocks monitored censorship in the country.[10] The cost of the three-day internet shutdown following the Zimbabwean fuel protests was also calculated to cost Zimbabwe an estimated $17 million.[11]

The block of Wikipedia in Venezuela and other censorship incidents during the Venezuelan presidential crisis were also monitored by NetBlocks, with several international media outlets covering the situation with NetBlocks' work.[12][13][14][15][16][17]

Reception

Visiting NetBlocks' website used to trigger monitoring checks against websites to see if they were blocked for that visitor. However, these checks were done without the user's consent. A researcher, Collin Anderson, argued that this could potentially present a risk to users. NetBlocks said it removed the checks in 2020 because the data "just wasn't that good," Wired reported.[18]

In July 2020, as the Somalian Parliament passed a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire, NetBlocks claimed internet access was shut down.[19] Doug Madory, director of internet analysis at Oracle, said that a damaged submarine cable caused the interruption. NetBlocks rejected the theory, citing an analysis of weather conditions.[18][20]

In 2020, Anderson registered five internet domains using NetBlocks' name, one of which hosted a blog post carrying a series of disparaging remarks NetBlocks and its staff. In September 2020, NetBlocks filed a complaint against Anderson with the World Intellectual Property Organization, alleging that Anderson was engaging in an act of commercial fraud to misleadingly divert customers to his own project.[21] NetBlocks successfully demonstrated that Anderson was acting in bad faith and won the complaint in November 2020, recovering all five squatted domains.[18][21]

References

  1. ^ a b "Our Work". NetBlocks.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ "Ethiopia re-opens the country's internet". BBC World Service (Interview).{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ "Home". NetBlocks. 14 September 2017. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  4. ^ "Projects and Initiatives". NetBlocks. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  5. ^ "NetBlocks Tracks Venezuela's Power Outage". IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ "DRF and NetBlocks find blanket and nation-wide ban on social media in Pakistan and demand it to be lifted immediately". Digital Rights Foundation. 2017-11-26. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
  7. ^ "Activists assail blanket ban on social media". The Nation. 2017-11-27. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
  8. ^ "All you need to know about nation-wide internet disruptions during dharna". Samaa TV. 2017-11-27. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
  9. ^ "Sudan restricts social media access to counter protest movement". Reuters. 2 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  10. ^ "Internet 'disrupted again' in Gabon". BBC News. 7 January 2019. Archived from the original on 22 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  11. ^ Griffiths, James (18 January 2019). "The internet is more vulnerable than you realize". CNN. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  12. ^ "NetBlocks: Reporta bloqueo a redes sociales tras protesta de militares en Venezuela". Voice of America (in Spanish). 21 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  13. ^ Laya, Patricia; Rosati, Andrew (21 January 2019). "Venezuela Detains Rebel Guardsmen, Sparking Protests in Caracas". Bloomberg. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  14. ^ "Venezuela Blocks Wikipedia After Maduro 'Ousted' From Article, Internet Watchdog Says". Haaretz. 13 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  15. ^ Pineda Sleinan, Julett (21 January 2019). "Cantv restringió acceso a redes sociales durante alzamiento en Cotiza, reporta Netblocks". Efecto Cocuyo. Archived from the original on 23 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  16. ^ "Venezuela Wikipedia'ya erişimi engelledi". Deutsche Welle (in Turkish). 14 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  17. ^ "El régimen chavista bloqueó el acceso a Twitter e Instagram por los incidentes en Caracas". Infobae (in European Spanish). 21 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  18. ^ a b c Volpicelli, Gian M. (2021-07-14). "How the internet censorship community turned on NetBlocks". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
  19. ^ @NetBlocks (2020-07-26). "⚠️Confirmed: Internet shutdown across much of #Somalia as parliament votes to remove Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire over lack of democratic elections; real-time metrics show connectivity below ~30% of ordinary levels with high impact to #Mogadishu" (Tweet). Retrieved 2021-07-16 – via Twitter.
  20. ^ Doug Madory [@DougMadory] (2020-07-27). "Uganda Telecom lost transit from WIOCC (EASSy cable) at the same time as the outage in Somalia:" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2020-07-27. Retrieved 2021-07-15 – via Twitter.
  21. ^ a b Alexiev, Assen (2020-11-09). "WIPO Domain Name Decision: D2020-2240". www.wipo.int. Retrieved 2021-07-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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