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Past Project

OpenNet Initiative

The Berkman Center is a member of the OpenNet Initiative (ONI), a joint collaborative project between the University of Toronto, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, and Harvard Law School. ONI’s mission is to identify and document Internet filtering and surveillance, and to promote and inform wider public dialogs about such practices. The project produces country studies, regional overviews, a map of filtering worldwide, a blog on the latest issues regarding the research, and more.

The OpenNet Initiative is also expanding its research into the area of Internet surveillance by government actors. This project seeks to answer similar questions to those posed above: Which government agencies have the capacity and authority to conduct Internet surveillance? What outside parties, such as ISPs or technology providers, are necessary participants in surveillance efforts? How does surveillance impact civic and social life?

This project is supported in part by the Open Society Institute, the Ford Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.


Our Work 62

News
Jun 19, 2013

Internet Censorship and Control Papers

The Berkman Center is pleased to share that Berkman Fellow Hal Roberts and Steven J. Murdoch of the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory have edited a collection of papers…

News
Apr 24, 2012

OpenNet Initiative (ONI) Year in Review 2011

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is pleased to share the OpenNet Initiative (ONI)'s annual roundup of top instances of filtering, surveillance, and information warfare…

Dec 2, 2011

Better Data for a Better Internet

The Berkman Center enthusiastically shares an article from Faculty Co-Directors John Palfrey and Jonathan Zittrain on "Better Data for a Better Internet," published in this month…

Nov 3, 2011

Access Contested: Security, Identity, and Resistance in Asian Cyberspace

"Access Contested: Security, Identity, and Resistance in Asian Cyberspace," edited by Ronald J. Deibert, John G. Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski and Jonathan Zittrain.

News
Mar 28, 2011

The Use of Western Technologies by Middle East Censors, 2010-2011

The Berkman Center is pleased to share the OpenNet Initiative's new report analyzing the use of American and Canadian-made tools Websense, McAfee SmartFilter, and Netsweeper for…

News
Mar 22, 2011

OpenNet Initiative Releases 2010 Year in Review

The Berkman Center is pleased to share the OpenNet Initiative's annual roundup of "top instances of filtering, surveillance, and information warfare around the globe." 2010's high…

News
Feb 15, 2011

Questions for Secretary Clinton concerning "Internet freedom"

Faculty associate Matthew Hindman provoked an energetic email exchange among members of the extended Berkman Center community today, in anticipation of Secretary Clinton's …

News
Jan 28, 2011

Egypt Coverage

A number of Berkman projects and collaborators are keeping a close eye on the state of Internet access in Egypt.

Dec 20, 2010

2010 Report on Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks

This paper evaluates the impact of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on independent media and human rights sites in nine countries, as well as the broader impact of…

News
Oct 18, 2010

New: Circumvention Tool Usage Report

The Berkman Center releases a new report on the usage of tools for circumventing Internet filtering, which finds that simple web proxies are more widely used than other…

Oct 14, 2010

2010 Circumvention Tool Usage Report

This paper evaluates the usage of blocking-resistant circumvention tools, simple web proxies, and VPN services and finds that overall usage of circumvention tools is still very…

Sep 21, 2010

ONI: Policing Content in the Quasi-Public Sphere

The Berkman Center is pleased to share a new bulletin from the OpenNet Initiative: "Policing Content in the Quasi-Public Sphere," which explores centralized platforms serving as…

Publication
Apr 29, 2010

Access Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights, and Rule in Cyberspace

"Access Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights, and Rule in Cyberspace," edited by Ronald J. Deibert, John G. Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski and Jonathan Zittrain, with a foreword by…

News
Mar 4, 2010

ONI investigates Microsoft Bing filtering in the Arab world

The Berkman Center is pleased to share a new bulletin from the OpenNet Initiative: "Sex, Social Mores, and Keyword Filtering: Microsoft Bing in the 'Arabian Countries.'" ONI…

Feb 8, 2010 @ 6:00 PM

When Countries Collide Online: Internet Spies, Cyberwar, and Government-sponsored Skullduggery

Cliff Stoll and Jonathan Zittrain

With the Internet woven into the fabric of all governmental activities, it's not surprising to find many international espionage agencies shadowing targets online and performing…

News
Feb 4, 2010

Internet filtering: 2009 in review

The OpenNet Initiative has again sorted through the past year's instances of Internet filtering, surveillance, and information warfare and presents the notable stories in its new …

News
Oct 1, 2009

The OpenNet Initiative reports on Internet filtering in Sub-Saharan Africa

ONI has released new research on Sub-Saharan Africa, including reports on Uganda and Nigeria, where ONI tested for the first time in 2008 and 2009...

News
Aug 12, 2009

OpenNet Initiative releases 2009 Middle East & North Africa research

The Berkman Center is pleased to share an announcement from the ONI: the partnership has released new studies of Internet filtering in the Middle East and North Africa. Government…

News
Aug 12, 2009

GOVERNMENT INTERNET FILTERING INCREASES IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

New Survey Examines 18 Countries by Political, Social, National Security, and Internet Tools Filtering

14 countries in the Middle East and North Africa out of 18 countries surveyed filter Internet content using technical means, according to new studies released by the OpenNet…

News
Jun 17, 2009

OpenNet Initiative Releases Report on Filtering in Asia

According to a report just release by the OpenNet Initiative (ONI) on filtering in Asia, Asian governments are taking increasingly sophisticated steps to control access to Web…

News
Jun 16, 2009

ONI Asia 3rd Annual Conference, Penang, Malaysia, June 17, 2009

New research from the OpenNet Initiative reveals accelerating restrictions on Internet content as Asian governments shift to next generation controls. These new techniques go…

News
Jun 16, 2009

Keeping an Eye on Iran's Post-Election Protests

Berkman Center people and projects have been paying close attention to the role of the Internet and cell phones in the post-election protests in Iran.

News
Jun 12, 2009

OpenNet Initiative releases "China’s Green Dam: The implications of government control encroaching on the home PC"

The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) has released a new research bulletin that reviews the functional elements of China's Green Dam software and explore the possible effects of its…

News
Jun 2, 2009

Herdict Chinese is live

(updated June 2)

Herdict Web -- Berkman's tool for tracking global web (in)accessibility -- is now available in Mandarin! And, as of June 2, Herdict is seeing a surge in reporting from China...

News
May 27, 2009

The Chinese Internet and Civil Society

Civic Engagement, Deliberation and Culture

The 7th Chinese Internet Research Conference starts today, at the Annenberg School for Communication of the University of Pennsylvania, and a raft of Berkman researchers and…

News
Apr 8, 2009

Herdict Web gets bigger and smarter...

Herdict Web -- Berkman's tool for tracking global web (in)accessibility -- has now been in the wild for six weeks! and what wild and woolly weeks they have been (YouTube blocked…

News
Apr 1, 2009

OpenNet Initiative: "Freedom House Releases Key Findings on Internet Freedom"

Today on the OpenNet Initiative blog, ONI discusses the release of Freedom House's report on Internet freedom...

Mar 5, 2009

Report release: 2007 Circumvention Landscape Report: Methods, Uses, and Tools

The Berkman Center is pleased to make available its report on techniques and tools for circumventing Internet filtering...

Publication
Mar 5, 2009

2007 Circumvention Landscape Report: Methods, Uses, and Tools

A large variety of different projects have developed tools that can be used to circumvent Internet filtering, allowing people in filtered countries access to otherwise filtered…

News
Feb 25, 2009

Herdict Web

the verdict of the herd

The Berkman Center is pleased to announce the official launch of Herdict Web -- a tool that employs the distributed power of the Internet community to provide insight into what…

Feb 23, 2009

Internet filtering: 2008 in review

The OpenNet Initiative is proud to present its Year in Review: a summary of events worldwide concerning the practices and polices of Internet filtering and surveillance...

News
Feb 17, 2009

Radio Berkman: Restrictions, Connections, Visualizations

This week on Radio Berkman: Jonathan Zittrain and Judith Donath discuss, respectively, Herdict Web and the "Connections" exhibition at the MIT Museum...

News
Jan 28, 2009

Data Privacy Day

Today, the US, Canada, and a host of European countries are celebrating the second annual Data Privacy Day. In honor of the Day, we are re-presenting Digital Natives project…

Nov 21, 2008

There is no privacy?

This week, over on the newly started "An Eye on Surveillance" blog, the first in a series of posts about egregious privacy intrusions -- "Snooping Browsing History through HTML"...

News
Nov 12, 2008

OpenNet Initiative: Filtering in Argentina

From the OpenNet Initiative blog...Since 2006, Internet users in Argentina have been blocked from searching for information about some of country's most notable individuals.

News
Oct 29, 2008

Global Network Initiative launches

Berkman is pleased to announce the launch of the Global Network Initiative, a dynamic effort developed in partnership with leading human rights groups, academics, socially…

Event
Oct 17, 2008 @ 8:30 AM

Russia Online: the Russian-Language Blogosphere and Participatory Internet

An all-day conference in New York City made possible by the collaboration of the Harriman Institute and the School of Journalism at Columbia University, and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

Conference Wiki: http://cyber.harvard.edu/russiaonline/Main_Page User: russiaonline PW: columbia This conference is open to the public. Seating may be…

News
Oct 2, 2008

"Breaching Trust," China’s TOM-Skype platform

Our colleagues at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab have released a major report, "Breaching Trust: An analysis of surveillance and security practices on China’s TOM-Skype…

News
Jul 31, 2008

China, Internet filtering, and the Olympics

The 2008 Olympics open in Beijing in about a week, and Internet filtering practices in China have again made international headlines as journalists and others experience the so…

News
Jul 18, 2008

Thinking through section 201 of the Global Online Freedom Act

Over on the Future of the Internet blog, Berkman summer intern Brendan Ballou takes a look at the Global Online Freedom Act being considered by Congress...

News
Jul 10, 2008

Iranian parliament moving toward death penalty for blogging on certain topics

From the Citizen Media Law Project... Online free speech has never been well received by the Iranian government, but now Tehran is just one step away from making blogging on…

News
Jun 18, 2008

Access to Information and Media Control in the P.R.C.

Today, ONI's Ron Deibert testifies about "Access to the Internet and the Participation of U.S. & Western Firms in Chinese Internet Controls" before the U.S.-China Commission...

News
May 12, 2008

Internet Filtering: 2007 Year in Review

In the thick of Berkman@10's uninterrupted series of major events, announcements, and releases, we feted and discussed the OpenNet Initiative's landmark book on global Internet…

News
May 9, 2008

Debating democratisation and the Internet

Dust off your British spelling guides. As part of the Berkman Center’s ongoing tenth anniversary celebration, Berkman@10 (conference and gala next week!), we’re retrieving some…

Mar 25, 2008

On Tibet

Protests in Tibet - and the Chinese crackdown and troop build-up in Lhasa and elsewhere - have dominated headlines this week. China's blocking of YouTube and other measures…

News
Mar 25, 2008

BBC - (Un)Blocked By China, and a take on Access Denied

Today the BBC News website ran a story about the OpenNet Initiative's new book, Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering. They say: "[The Book]…

News
Mar 20, 2008

Access (still) Denied

Yesterday, OpenNet Initiative Principal Investigators Ron Deibert, John Palfrey, and Jonathan Zittrain spoke about their book, Access Denied, on Public Radio International's The…

Mar 17, 2008

Tibet, China and the information gaps between

From the OpenNet Initiative... Despite the approaching Olympic Games, it should come as no surprise to most observers of China that information about the…

News
Mar 14, 2008

John Palfrey discusses Internet filtering on NYT podcast Tech Talk

Berkman Executive Director and OpenNet Initiative (ONI) Principal Investigator John Palfrey is featured this week on the New York Times podcast Tech Talk. Host Bettina Edelstein…

Mar 14, 2008 @ 7:30 PM

Berkman Book Release: Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering

by Ronald Deibert (Editor), John G. Palfrey (Editor), Rafal Rohozinski (Editor), Jonathan Zittrain (Editor)

The OpenNet Initiative’s new book, Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering, is now on bookshelves.

Mar 13, 2008

YouTube and the rise of geolocational filtering

From the OpenNet Initiative... YouTomb, a project of the MIT Free Culture group that studies takedown notices by the video-sharing website YouTube, has identified a mechanism…

Publication
Mar 13, 2008

Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering

Book Description, from Amazon: Many countries around the world block or…

News
May 18, 2007

Survey of Government Internet Filtering Practices Indicates Increasing Internet Censorship

First Year of Global Survey Examines 41 Countries by Political, Social and National Security Filtering

First Year of Global Survey Examines 41 Countries by Political, Social and National Security Filtering

Event
May 18, 2007 @ 5:59 PM

OpenNet Initiative Conference: The Future of Free Expression on the Internet

The OpenNet Initiative held its first public conference to discuss the current state of play of Internet filtering worldwide. The conference was hosted by the Oxford Internet…

Event
Apr 24, 2007 @ 12:30 PM

Access Denied: the Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering

Robert Faris and John Palfrey previewed Access Denied

Rob Faris and John Palfrey gave us a preview of the OpenNet Initiative's most recent publication, Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering.

Event
Jan 30, 2007 @ 12:30 PM

Securing Human Rights Online: Addressing Long-term Problems of Sustainability, Coordination, and Resources

Ron Deibert, Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto

Ron Deibert on "Securing Human Rights Online: Addressing Long-term Problems of Sustainability, Coordination, and Resources"

News
Jan 26, 2006

MacArthur Foundation Awards $3 Million to Berkman Center and ONI to Advance Global Internet Filtering Research

Cambridge, MA - The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has awarded $3 million to the Berkman Center for Internet & Society and its partners to advance their…

News
Oct 12, 2005

OpenNet Initiative Burma Report: Research Finds that Burma Implements One of the Most Restrictive Regimes of Internet Control

The university-based OpenNet Initiative (ONI) today released “Internet Filtering in Burma in 2005,” a report that documents the degree and extent to which the government of Burma…

Aug 17, 2005

OpenNet Initiative Finds that Singapore’s State Control Over Online Content Blends Legal and Technical Controls

Cambridge, MA - The university-based OpenNet Initiative (ONI) today released “Internet Filtering in Singapore in 2004-2005,” a report that documents the degree and extent to which…

Event
Jun 7, 2005 @ 12:30 PM

Filtering

Richard Clayton

Berkman Luncheon Series: 6/7/05 - Richard Clayton on Filtering. Richard Clayton recently presented "Failures in a Hybrid Content Blocking System" at the PET2005 workshop in…

Event
Sep 14, 2004 @ 12:30 PM

Internet Filtering in Saudi Arabia

Jeffrey Engerman, Berkman Center Student Fellow

Berkman Luncheon Series: 9/14/04 - Berkman Center Student Fellow Jeffrey Engerman on Internet Filtering in Saudi Arabia

News
Apr 26, 2004

Researchers Join Forces to Expose Net Censorship

An international team of academics from the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Toronto has begun…