Online FOCI workshop 2026-02-19 #575
Description
FOCI gathers researchers and practitioners from technology, law, and policy who are working on means to study, detect, or circumvent practices that inhibit free and open communications on the Internet.
The first Free and Open Communications on the Internet (FOCI) workshop of 2026 will happen on 2026-02-19 from 17:00 to 21:30 UTC. The event is online and free of charge, but you do have to register in advance with an email address to get connection details. You will be able to watch presentations and talk with anti-censorship researchers. Anyone may attend.
Event web site and program: https://foci.community/
Registration: https://foci.community/register
Session 1: Network Censorship and Circumvention
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Geedge Cases: Censorship Measurement Insights from the Geedge Networks Leak
Jade Sheffey, Ali Zohaib, Mingshi Wu, Amir Houmansadr -
Towards Automated DNS Censorship Circumvention
Felix Lange, Niklas Niere, Juraj Somorovsky
Session 2: Proxy and Relay Strategies
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Server, Client, or Relay? Dual-Role Detection of Circumvention Relays
Sultan Almutairi, Khaled Harfoush, Yannis Viniotis -
The Game Has Changed: Revisiting proxy distribution and game theory
Hassan Fares, Omkar Fulsundar, Nick Hopper
Session 3: Discussions on Security and Privacy
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Defending Messaging Apps Against Spyware Using Data Diodes
Peter Story -
Architectural VPN Vulnerabilities, Disclosure Fatigue, and Structural Failures
William Tolley, Everett Morse, Gabriel Hogan, Jeffrey Knockel, Jedidiah Crandall
Session 4: Generative AI: Measurement and Opportunities
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Extended Abstract: Leveraging LLM Agents for Automated Censorship Report Aggregation and Analysis
Ali Zohaib, Jade Sheffey, Mingshi Wu, Amir Houmansadr -
Dual Standards: Examining Content Moderation Disparities Between API and WebUI Interfaces in Large Language Models
Friedemann Lipphardt, Moonis Ali, Anja Feldmann, Devashish Gosain -
Assemblage: Chipping Away at Censorship with Generative Steganography
Tushar M. Jois, Cora Rowena Ruiz, Gabriel Kaptchuk