OONI (Open Observatory of Network Interference)

What OONI (Open Observatory of Network Interference) does

OONI (Open Observatory of Network Interference) is a non-profit free software project founded in 2012 and registered as an Economic Technological Services (ETS) entity in Italy, headquartered in Rome. The organization develops and maintains open-source tools for measuring internet censorship and network interference, with its flagship product OONI Probe enabling users to test the blocking of websites and instant messaging applications (including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Telegram), measure network performance, and detect interference with circumvention tools. OONI Probe is distributed across Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms, with supplementary offerings including OONI Probe Web for browser-based testing, the OONI API for programmatic data access, OONI Explorer for interactive exploration of the open dataset, OONI Run and OONI Run v2 for community-driven testing campaigns, the OONI Measurement Aggregation Toolkit (MAT), and the OONI Censorship Findings platform.

The platform's underlying architecture is a decentralized, community-powered measurement network in which volunteers install OONI Probe on their devices, generating network measurements that are published openly and in real time. Since 2012, this community has contributed more than a billion measurements from over 200 countries, creating the world's largest open dataset on internet censorship. Performance tests are conducted against Measurement Lab (M-Lab) servers under a mutual integration agreement, and iThena contributes additional probe nodes. All methodologies, source code, and measurement data are published openly, with content released under Creative Commons licensing.

OONI operates as a community-driven non-profit with no commercial revenue model, providing all tools free of charge. Funding derives from donations and grants, with the Open Technology Fund (OTF) serving as the primary institutional funder supporting internet freedom tools and technologies. The organization employs approximately six people and serves human rights defenders, journalists, activists, and academic researchers worldwide, supporting evidence-based documentation of internet censorship, advocacy work, and policy research. Its go-to-market motion is fundamentally product-led and community-led, with distribution through app stores (Google Play, App Store, F-Droid), direct GitHub downloads, and engagement via Slack, IRC, the ooni-talk mailing list, and a global partner and ambassador program.

Name

OONI (Open Observatory of Network Interference)

Legal name

Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) ETS

Website

https://ooni.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

OONI is a non-profit free software project developing open-source tools for measuring internet censorship. Its OONI Probe application enables human rights defenders, journalists, activists, and researchers globally to detect and document network interference across 200+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Rome

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: OONI is a non-profit free software project funded through donations and grants from foundations and organizations supporting internet freedom. No commercial revenue model exists.
2. Open Technology Fund: Primary funding from Open Technology Fund (OTF), which supports internet freedom tools and technologies.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

OONI develops and distributes free, open-source software (notably OONI Probe) that allows users to test the blocking of websites and apps and to measure network speed and performance. The organization publishes all collected measurements openly and in real time through the OONI Explorer web platform and the OONI API, producing the world's largest open dataset on internet censorship covering more than 200 countries since 2012.

Product overview

OONI is a non-profit free software project that operates as a decentralized internet censorship observatory. The core product portfolio centers on OONI Probe (free software for measuring internet censorship across mobile, desktop, and command-line platforms), OONI Explorer (interactive web interface for exploring the open censorship measurement dataset), and the OONI API (programmatic access to measurement data). Supporting products include OONI Run and OONI Run v2 (platforms for creating custom URL test links for community-driven testing), OONI Probe Web (browser-based testing), and the OONI Measurement Aggregation Toolkit. All OONI software is open source, and measurement data is openly published in real-time to increase transparency of internet censorship worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• OONI Probe: Free software application for measuring internet censorship, network performance, and blocking of websites and apps.
• OONI Explorer

Products and services

• OONI Probe Free software application for measuring internet censorship. Enables users to test the blocking of websites and apps, measure network performance, and detect various forms of network interference. Available on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux.
• OONI Explorer Interactive web interface providing access to the world's largest open dataset on internet censorship. Allows users to explore millions of measurements collected from more than 200 countries since 2012, with charts and search tools for investigating censorship events.
• OONI API Public API providing programmatic access to all OONI measurement data, enabling researchers and developers to integrate censorship data into their own systems and applications.
• OONI Run v2 Next generation platform for community-driven censorship testing that enables users to create and share custom URL test links containing lists of websites for others to run censorship tests against.
• OONI Probe Web Web-based interface enabling users to run OONI censorship tests directly from their browser without installing dedicated software.
• OONI Measurement Aggregation Toolkit (MAT) Toolkit for aggregating and processing OONI measurements to support data analysis workflows.
• OONI Censorship Findings Platform Platform for presenting and analyzing censorship findings from OONI measurements, launched to improve accessibility of research results.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than a billion network measurements published from 200+ countries since 2012

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Measurement Lab (M-Lab)coreTechnology or IntegrationOONI Probe performance tests (NDT) are conducted against M-Lab servers. M-Lab collects and publishes IP addresses for research purposes as part of these tests.
• OONI Partner OrganizationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal network of partner organizations collaborating on research reports documenting internet censorship. Includes regular partner gatherings and training programs.
• OONI AmbassadorsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrowing list of OONI ambassadors through the partnership program who help expand awareness and usage of OONI tools in their regions.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Tor Project: Non-profit that builds free, open-source tools (Tor Browser, Tor network) to defend against internet censorship and surveillance. Closely comparable to OONI in mission, open-source ethos, and community-driven distribution model.
• Censored Planet: Academic censorship measurement project from the University of Michigan that publishes remote network interference data. Directly comparable in producing open, longitudinal censorship datasets used by researchers and journalists.
• Citizen Lab: University of Toronto research lab that investigates internet censorship, targeted surveillance, and network interference. Highly comparable research output and methodology, frequently citing OONI data in its reports.
• GreatFire: Non-profit focused on monitoring and circumventing internet censorship, particularly in China. Comparable in mission and open-data transparency, though more regionally concentrated.
• NetBlocks: Organization that documents internet shutdowns and network disruptions in real time. Comparable in producing evidence-based measurements of censorship events, with overlap in news media and human rights use cases.

Broad incumbents

• Article 19: International human rights organization focused on freedom of expression, including digital rights. Comparable in mission and stakeholder overlap, with broader advocacy and litigation scope but less direct measurement infrastructure.
• Freedom House: Large established organization that publishes the annual 'Freedom on the Net' report measuring internet freedom globally. Comparable in producing comparable cross-country internet freedom metrics, but operates as a broader advocacy organization rather than a measurement infrastructure.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF): Major non-profit defending digital civil liberties. Compares to OONI in defending internet freedom and publishing open tools, but operates as a broader legal and policy organization rather than a measurement infrastructure.
• Access Now: Global digital rights organization that defends an open internet and runs the #KeepItOn coalition against internet shutdowns. Comparable in mission and stakeholder community, with broader advocacy scope than OONI's measurement focus.

Emerging players

• IODA (Internet Outage Detection and Analysis): Georgia Tech project that provides real-time monitoring of internet connectivity outages. Comparable in producing open network measurement data for researchers, with a different technical approach (BGP/probe-based) than OONI's censorship-focused testing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/OpenObservatory
• GitHubgithub.com/ooni
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/OONIorg
• Facebookfacebook.com/ooni.org
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ooniorg
• Instagraminstagram.com/openobservatory

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about OONI (Open Observatory of Network Interference)