ASL19 (Persian: اصل ١٩) is an independent technology and research organization that helps Iranians circumvent Internet censorship and access information online. Based in Toronto, ASL19 was founded in 2011 with the support of the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab.
Concerned with questions of digital security, Internet freedom, privacy, and surveillance, ASL19 distributes open source circumvention tools like Psiphon, provides user support, and distributes information and guides on digital safety. The organization also conducts research in relation to media censorship in Iran, and has published reports on information controls in the lead up to 2013 presidential elections, the political evolution of the Iranian Internet, the effects of sanctions on independent publishers in Iran, and Internet censorship in the wake of the 2009 presidential elections (with the OpenNet Initiative and Citizen Lab).
ASL19 supports Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (“asl” meaning “article” in Persian), which reads: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
ASL19’s institutional partners include Herdict at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Iran Media Program at the University of Pennsylvania, Citizen Lab at University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, Radio Zamaneh, and Psiphon Inc.