New online OONI training course launched by Advocacy Assembly
We are excited to share that a free, online OONI training course (“Measuring Internet Censorship with OONI tools”) has been launched today on Small Media’s Advocacy Assembly platform!
Through this course, you will learn how to measure internet censorship through the use of OONI tools. You will also learn how to access and interpret real-time OONI data on internet censorship around the world.
Today, the course is available in English, Arabic, Spanish, and Farsi. Over the next months, the course will also be available in French, Swahili, Portuguese and Russian.
Sign up with Advocacy Assembly and enroll:
About Advocacy Assembly
Advocacy Assembly (a project by Small Media) is the world’s only free online training platform for human rights activists, campaigners and journalists.
It includes a variety of online multimedia courses taught by human rights, media, design and data professionals from leading organizations from around the world (such as Amnesty International, Privacy International, Security First, and WITNESS, among many others). These courses are available in a variety of languages, including Arabic, Farsi, Spanish, and Russian.
When Advocacy Assembly invited us to create an OONI training course for their platform, we were thrilled! A free, online OONI training course has been requested by community members for many years, and Advocacy Assembly have expertise in creating high quality training programmes that reach diverse audiences around the world.
OONI’s new training course is now included in Advocacy Assembly’s recently launched Internet Shutdown Academy, which features 10 courses in 8 languages, taught by experts from leading organizations. It is designed to educate activists, journalists, and anyone impacted by internet disruptions and online censorship.
Advocacy Assembly’s Shutdown Academy will include the following 10 courses:
Documenting Human Rights Violations During Shutdowns (WITNESS)
Documenting Shutdowns: Network Measurements (IODA)
Introduction to Shutdowns (Access Now)
Developing an Action Plan for Internet Shutdowns (Internews)
Mitigating Online Censorship (VESinFiltro)
Mitigating Internet Shutdowns (VESinFiltro)
Public Advocacy Campaigns Against Shutdowns (Access Now)
Strategic Litigation Against Shutdowns (Access Now)
Engaging With the Private Sector To End Shutdowns (GNI)
OONI training course
By taking the OONI training course (“Measuring Internet Censorship with OONI tools”) on Advocacy Assembly, you will learn how to investigate internet censorship through the use of OONI tools and data.
Why take the course?
Almost every country in the world experiences some form of internet censorship. What differs from country to country is which websites and apps are blocked, and the impact of their block.
During elections and protests around the world, governments frequently instruct the blocking of major social media platforms (such as WhatsApp and Facebook). In many countries, governments also instruct the blocking of independent news media, minority group websites, and a number of other online platforms.
By taking this course, you will learn how to measure internet censorship and help keep those in power to account.
Who is the course for?
The OONI training course was designed for human rights defenders, activists, journalists, and researchers interested in investigating and responding to internet censorship around the world.
But anyone interested in learning how to measure internet censorship is encouraged to take the course! It’s beginner level, and no technical knowledge is required.
We especially hope that this course will be useful to our partners and that it will help support OONI community engagement efforts around the world.
What does the course entail?
To make things fun, the course includes a mix of videos, screencasts, slides, quizzes and hands-on exercises. It also includes case studies shared by community members!
Specifically, the OONI training course includes the following main chapters:
Introduction to internet censorship
What is internet censorship?
The problem of internet censorship
Some internet basics
How is internet censorship implemented?
Measuring internet censorship
Why measure internet censorship?
How to measure internet censorship
Case study: Measuring internet censorship in Tanzania
Measuring internet censorship with OONI Probe
What is OONI Probe?
Potential risks
Onboarding: Getting started with OONI Probe
Running OONI Probe
Accessing OONI Probe test results
Automated OONI Probe testing
Testing specific website categories
Testing the website(s) of your choice
OONI Probe app settings
Understanding OONI censorship measurement data
Interpreting OONI data
How OONI Probe checks website blocking
How OONI Probe checks the blocking of instant messaging apps
How OONI Probe checks the blocking of circumvention tools
Case study: Using OONI data as part of the #KeepItOn campaign
OONI Explorer: Accessing real-time censorship measurement data
What is OONI Explorer?
Using the OONI Explorer Search Tool
Checking OONI data on the blocking of websites
Checking OONI data on the blocking of apps
OONI Explorer country pages
Looking at OONI data in aggregate
We hope that by taking the OONI training course, you feel empowered to actively participate in OONI censorship measurement research and to share your OONI skills and knowledge with others!
If you have any questions, please feel encouraged to reach out to us. You can also reach us on the OONI Slack channel for real-time communication.
Acknowledgements
We thank Advocacy Assembly for providing us with this amazing opportunity to create an OONI training course for their platform.
We also thank translators and everyone else behind the scenes who helped with the creation of the OONI training course.