No Access: LGBTIQ Website Censorship in Six Countries

Report cover

Today, in collaboration with OutRight Action International and the Citizen Lab, we are excited to share our new research report, “No Access: LGBTIQ Website Censorship in Six Countries”, which examines the blocking of LGBTIQ websites in Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

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Annotated Bibliography

Below we share some of our key research findings.

Summary of findings

We joined forces with OutRight Action International and the Citizen Lab to examine the blocking of LGBTIQ websites in six countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We selected these countries because they are (a) known to serve block pages (i.e., pages that website visitors may see when access is restricted), which enable us to automatically confirm the blocking of LGBTIQ websites, and (b) known to censor LGBTIQ related content, based on prior research.

We adopted a mixed methods research approach, combining OONI network measurement analysis with interviews and literature research. Specifically, we analyzed OONI measurements collected from these six countries to detect the blocking of LGBTIQ websites, and to examine how their blocking varies across AS networks in each country (if at all). The timeframe that we selected for OONI data analysis was June 1, 2016 to July 31, 2020. To examine the impact of online LGBTIQ censorship, OutRight Action International and the Citizen Lab interviewed LGBTIQ communities in the six countries.

Our technical findings, along with information on the criminalization of LGBTIQ related activities, are summarized for each country in the following tables.

Summary Table 1

Image: Table 1: Summary of findings

Summary Table 2

Image: Table 2: Summary of findings

Overall, through OONI data analysis we found:

Further details are available through our report.

We thank OONI Probe users who contributed measurements, supporting this study.

To measure the blocking of LGBTIQ websites around the world (and contribute open data), you can install the OONI Probe mobile app and tap on the LGBTIQ buttons on this page: https://ooni.org/get-involved/run/