# Sustained censorship in QA (2026-05)

**Country:** 🇶🇦 Qatar (QA)
**Date:** 2026-05-06
**Type:** Censorship
**Severity:** CRITICAL
**Status:** confirmed

## Summary

OONI detected 22 days of elevated network interference averaging 63.6% anomaly rate.

## Metrics

- Confidence: 77%
- Measurements (stored incident count; not the qualifying evidence count): 22
- Anomaly Rate: 63.6%

## Evidence

- **OONI** (measurement): OONI http_header_field_manipulation: 1/2 measurements anomalous (50.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-29
  - Confidence: 70%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=http_header_field_manipulation&since=2026-05-29&until=2026-05-30&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI http_invalid_request_line: 1/2 measurements anomalous (50.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-29
  - Confidence: 70%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=http_invalid_request_line&since=2026-05-29&until=2026-05-30&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI http_header_field_manipulation: 1/2 measurements anomalous (50.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-29
  - Confidence: 70%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=http_header_field_manipulation&since=2026-05-29&until=2026-05-30&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI http_invalid_request_line: 1/2 measurements anomalous (50.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-28
  - Confidence: 70%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=http_invalid_request_line&since=2026-05-28&until=2026-05-29&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI http_invalid_request_line: 4/8 measurements anomalous (50.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-25
  - Confidence: 70%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=http_invalid_request_line&since=2026-05-25&until=2026-05-26&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI http_header_field_manipulation: 4/8 measurements anomalous (50.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-25
  - Confidence: 70%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=http_header_field_manipulation&since=2026-05-25&until=2026-05-26&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI whatsapp: 1/2 measurements anomalous (50.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-23
  - Confidence: 70%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=whatsapp&since=2026-05-23&until=2026-05-24&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI http_invalid_request_line: 1/2 measurements anomalous (50.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-21
  - Confidence: 70%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=http_invalid_request_line&since=2026-05-21&until=2026-05-22&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI http_header_field_manipulation: 1/2 measurements anomalous (50.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-21
  - Confidence: 70%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=http_header_field_manipulation&since=2026-05-21&until=2026-05-22&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI tor: 1/1 measurements anomalous (100.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-20
  - Confidence: 90%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=tor&since=2026-05-20&until=2026-05-21&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI http_invalid_request_line: 1/2 measurements anomalous (50.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-15
  - Confidence: 70%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=http_invalid_request_line&since=2026-05-15&until=2026-05-16&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI http_header_field_manipulation: 1/2 measurements anomalous (50.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-15
  - Confidence: 70%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=http_header_field_manipulation&since=2026-05-15&until=2026-05-16&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI http_invalid_request_line: 4/8 measurements anomalous (50.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-10
  - Confidence: 70%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=http_invalid_request_line&since=2026-05-10&until=2026-05-11&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI http_header_field_manipulation: 4/8 measurements anomalous (50.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-10
  - Confidence: 70%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=http_header_field_manipulation&since=2026-05-10&until=2026-05-11&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI http_invalid_request_line: 1/1 measurements anomalous (100.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-09
  - Confidence: 90%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=http_invalid_request_line&since=2026-05-09&until=2026-05-10&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI http_header_field_manipulation: 1/1 measurements anomalous (100.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-09
  - Confidence: 90%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=http_header_field_manipulation&since=2026-05-09&until=2026-05-10&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI web_connectivity for claude.ai: 1/1 measurements anomalous (100.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-09
  - Confidence: 90%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=web_connectivity&domain=claude.ai&since=2026-05-09&until=2026-05-10)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI tor: 1/2 measurements anomalous (50.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-08
  - Confidence: 70%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=tor&since=2026-05-08&until=2026-05-09&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI whatsapp: 1/2 measurements anomalous (50.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-08
  - Confidence: 70%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=whatsapp&since=2026-05-08&until=2026-05-09&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI http_invalid_request_line: 1/1 measurements anomalous (100.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-07
  - Confidence: 90%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=http_invalid_request_line&since=2026-05-07&until=2026-05-08&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI http_header_field_manipulation: 1/1 measurements anomalous (100.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-07
  - Confidence: 90%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=http_header_field_manipulation&since=2026-05-07&until=2026-05-08&only=anomalies)
- **OONI** (measurement): OONI http_invalid_request_line: 1/2 measurements anomalous (50.0%)
  - Observed: 2026-05-06
  - Confidence: 70%
  - [OONI Explorer filtered results (not one measurement)](https://explorer.ooni.org/search?probe_cc=QA&test_name=http_invalid_request_line&since=2026-05-06&until=2026-05-07&only=anomalies)

## What we cannot say

- **Who caused it** — measurement data alone does not attribute the interference to any government, ISP, or other actor.
- **Intent** — anomalous or unreachable measurements indicate interference, not a stated motive or a deliberate-vs-incidental determination.
- **Which networks** — no specific ASN/ISP is identified for this incident.
- **Sub-national scope** — measurement is aggregated at the country level; we cannot localize to a province, city, or network segment.
- **Independent corroboration** — fewer than two source labels appear in qualifying linked evidence; stored incident source labels may include quarantined OONI observations.

## Data Sources

ooni

These source labels come from qualifying linked evidence. Historical incident source labels and quarantined observations are excluded; multiple labels alone do not establish independent corroboration.

## Citation

Voidly Research. (2026). Sustained censorship in QA (2026-05) [QA-2026-0124]. Retrieved from https://voidly.ai/incident/QA-2026-0124

---
*Report generated by Voidly Research on 2026-11-05*
*Data licensed under CC BY 4.0*
*Incident ID: QA-2026-0124*
*Permalink: https://voidly.ai/incident/QA-2026-0124*