Lantern · about

How shutdowns are detected.

A shutdown is not declared from a hunch. It is measured — by independent probes around the world — and turned into timestamped, checkable records.

01

Independent probes run tests

Volunteers and automated probes around the world repeatedly try ordinary actions — loading a website, reaching a messaging app, resolving a DNS name. Each attempt records exactly what happened on the wire.

02

Results are compared to a clean baseline

A reading is compared against what an unobstructed connection looks like. When a result diverges — a reset connection, a blocked address, an injected page, sudden throttling — it is flagged as an anomaly.

03

Anomalies become timestamped records

Each measurement is stamped with the country, the test, the time, and the raw outcome, then published openly. That makes a shutdown or block independently checkable rather than a rumor.

04

Lantern surfaces and preserves them

Lantern reads the live feed, shows recent records plainly, and keeps a cached civic-info pack so essential numbers stay reachable even while the network is down.

Sources

OONI — Open Observatory of Network Interference

Open, keyless measurement data on website and app blocking, tampering, and outages. Lantern's live record feed reads from OONI.

Independent measurement probes

Distributed volunteers and devices that run the tests from inside affected regions, so readings reflect what real users experience.

Your own offline pack

Civic numbers and addresses you cache on your device — readable with no connection. Stored locally, never uploaded.

What Lantern is not

Lantern is documentation and awareness only. It records and explains what measurement shows; it does not provide circumvention tooling and makes no "you are safe" assurances. An anomaly is a signal to investigate, not a verdict.

Method: independent network measurement (OONI + distributed probes). Every record shows its provenance and timestamp. Offline pack is stored locally on your device. Documentation and awareness only — never circumvention tooling.