[tor-project] OONI Monthly Report: March 2023
Maria Xynou
maria at openobservatory.org
Mon Apr 3 02:25:34 UTC 2023
Hello,
This email shares OONI's monthly report for March 2023.
*# OONI Monthly Report: March 2023*
Throughout March 2023, the OONI team worked on the following sprints:
* Sprint 86 (1st-12th March 2023)
* Sprint 87 (13th-31st March 2023)
Our work can be tracked through the various OONI GitHub repositories:
https://github.com/ooni
Highlights are shared in this report below.
*## Public launch of OONI Probe Web*
In March 2023, the OONI team released OONI Probe Web: a new browser-based
tool for measuring the blocking of websites.
Run OONI Probe Web: https://probe-web.ooni.org/
We built OONI Probe Web in response to long-term community feedback,
requesting a censorship measurement tool that can be run from a browser,
without requiring the installation of any software.
With OONI Probe Web, you will test the same types of websites as with the
OONI Probe apps (
https://ooni.org/support/faq#which-websites-will-i-test-for-censorship-with-ooni-probe).
Upon running OONI Probe Web, your test results will be published as open
data in near real-time (https://ooni.org/data/). However, please note that
OONI Probe Web is very limited in comparison to the OONI Probe apps (
https://ooni.org/install/). Due to limitations in the API available to web
browsers, it’s not possible to run advanced experiments necessary for
accurately detecting and characterizing website blocks from a browser.
We therefore kindly ask you to not treat OONI Probe Web as a replacement
for the OONI Probe apps, but as a complementary tool. We encourage you to
run OONI Probe Web and contribute measurements, the analysis of which will
help us improve upon OONI Probe Web on an ongoing basis.
You can learn more about OONI Probe Web in our blog post:
https://ooni.org/post/introducing-ooni-probe-web/
In preparation for the launch, we:
* Switched the endpoints used by OONI Probe Web to production (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-web/pull/6);
* Made several improvements to the copy and to the layout of the pages (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-web/pull/7) with special focus on the
informed consent procedure;
* Made changes to OONI Probe Web to ensure that it works better on mobile
platforms (https://github.com/ooni/probe-web/pull/9);
* Added support to the backend for analyzing OONI Probe Web measurements (
https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/648);
* Added support for filtering OONI Probe Web measurements inside of OONI
Explorer (https://github.com/ooni/explorer/pull/847);
* Updated the OONI Data Policy (https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/pull/1347).
*## Launched new OONI Explorer features and pages*
In March 2023, we launched several new OONI Explorer features and pages.
These include:
* New domain-centric pages: https://explorer.ooni.org/domains
* New network-centric pages: https://explorer.ooni.org/networks
* New “Internet outage” charts (integrating IODA, Google traffic, and
Cloudflare Radar data), available in each country-specific (
https://explorer.ooni.org/countries) and network-specific page (
https://explorer.ooni.org/networks)
* New user feedback reporting mechanism, available through the “Verify”
button in the banner of each OONI measurement page
The user feedback reporting mechanism enables OONI Explorer users to submit
feedback for each OONI measurement, helping the OONI team to improve OONI
data quality. Using the user feedback reporting mechanism requires logging
in with an email address (OONI Explorer user account). Email addresses are
not stored. They are just required so that we can send you a login link.
Leading up to the launch of the above, we wrapped up the relevant work.
Specifically, we:
* Added index pages for domains and networks that we have measurements for (
https://github.com/ooni/explorer/pull/830);
* Finished applying the designs for the new domain and network pages (
https://github.com/ooni/explorer/pull/830);
* Unified the appearance of the pre-existent pages by implementing new
designs created by a UI/UX designer (updated the general countries page,
each country page and several other components);
* Released third-party data integration on network and country pages (
https://github.com/ooni/explorer/pull/831);
* Released OONI Explorer user accounts and the user feedback reporting
mechanism for measurements (https://github.com/ooni/explorer/pull/790).
*## Published new OONI Explorer user guide*
In March 2023, we published a new user guide for OONI Explorer:
https://ooni.org/support/ooni-explorer
OONI Explorer (https://explorer.ooni.org/) is the world's largest open
dataset on Internet censorship, with new measurements published in near
real-time.
This user guide provides step-by-step instructions (with screenshots) on
how to use OONI Explorer to investigate internet censorship worldwide.
Through this guide, you will learn how to use OONI Explorer to:
* Discover blocked websites and apps around the world
* Access measurement data that can serve as evidence of internet censorship
* Generate charts based on aggregate views of OONI data
* Compare censorship across countries and networks
* Filter measurements based on various parameters (such as country, ASN,
date range, OONI Probe test, websites categories, domains, etc.)
Upon reading this guide, we hope you will feel empowered to investigate
internet censorship through the use of OONI Explorer.
We thank all OONI Probe (https://ooni.org/install/) users worldwide who
have contributed – and continue to contribute – measurements, shedding
light on internet censorship.
*## Published new documentation on interpreting OONI data*
In March 2023, we published new documentation which explains how to
interpret OONI data.
You can access this documentation here:
https://ooni.org/support/interpreting-ooni-data/
OONI data is open data on Internet censorship around the world, updated in
real-time.
With our new guide, you can learn how to interpret OONI data to monitor and
respond to Internet censorship worldwide.
*## Published new documentation on coordinating censorship measurement
campaigns*
In March 2023, we published a new guide through which you can learn how to
coordinate OONI censorship measurement campaigns with your community.
Read the guide here:
https://ooni.org/support/ooni-censorship-measurement-campaigns
Is your country preparing for elections? Did new blocks emerge during
protests? Would you like to measure censorship in different regions in your
country, or in different countries around the world?
Community coordination can help with rapidly measuring and responding to
Internet censorship events.
Through our new guide, you can learn which steps you can take to organize
censorship testing with other OONI Probe users. We also share a few
examples of OONI censorship measurement campaigns led by groups in the
internet freedom community.
*## Published new OONI Outreach Kit*
In March 2023, we published a new OONI Outreach Kit:
https://ooni.org/support/ooni-outreach-kit/
Our Outreach Kit includes flyers, brochures, workshop slides & other
resources that you can use as part of your OONI community engagement
efforts!
Specifically, the Outreach Kit includes:
* OONI brochures: https://ooni.org/support/ooni-outreach-kit/#ooni-brochures
* OONI Probe flyers and leaflets:
https://ooni.org/support/ooni-outreach-kit/#ooni-probe-flyers-and-leaflets
* OONI Explorer flyers:
https://ooni.org/support/ooni-outreach-kit/#ooni-explorer-flyers
* Internet censorship flyers:
https://ooni.org/support/ooni-outreach-kit/#internet-censorship-flyers
* OONI screencasts:
https://ooni.org/support/ooni-outreach-kit/#ooni-screencasts
* OONI workshop slides:
https://ooni.org/support/ooni-outreach-kit/#ooni-workshop-slides
* Other OONI resources:
https://ooni.org/support/ooni-outreach-kit/#ooni-resources
We hope you find these materials useful, and we thank you for your OONI
community engagement efforts! We also thank Ura Design (https://ura.design/)
for the beautiful design of the OONI Outreach Kit.
*## Updated the Get Involved section of the OONI website*
In light of the aforementioned publications, we edited the copy of the Get
Involved page on the OONI website to provide updated information and links (
https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/pull/1366/files).
The updated version of the OONI Get Involved page can be viewed here:
https://ooni.org/get-involved/
*## Published OONI documents translated into 5 languages*
In March 2023, we published several OONI documents translated into 5
languages: Arabic, Farsi, Russian, Swahili, and Spanish.
The translated OONI documents are:
* OONI Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): https://ooni.org/support/faq
* OONI Glossary: https://ooni.org/support/glossary
* Potential risks: https://ooni.org/about/risks/
Below we share links for the translated documents in each of the 5
languages.
*### Arabic*
Thanks to Ahmed Gharbeia, the following OONI documents are now available in
Arabic:
* OONI Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): https://ooni.org/ar/support/faq
* OONI Glossary: https://ooni.org/ar/support/glossary
* Potential risks: https://ooni.org/ar/about/risks
*### Farsi*
Thanks to Miaan Group, the following OONI documents are now available in
Farsi:
* OONI Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): https://ooni.org/fa/support/faq
* OONI Glossary: https://ooni.org/fa/support/glossary
* Potential risks: https://ooni.org/fa/about/risks
*### Russian*
Thanks to Tatyana Boldyreva, the following OONI documents are now available
in Russian:
* OONI Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): https://ooni.org/ru/support/faq
* OONI Glossary: https://ooni.org/ru/support/glossary
* Potential risks: https://ooni.org/ru/about/risks
*### Swahili*
Thanks to Zaina Foundation, the following OONI documents are now available
in Swahili:
* OONI Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): https://ooni.org/sw/support/faq
* OONI Glossary: https://ooni.org/sw/support/glossary
* Potential risks: https://ooni.org/sw/about/risks
*### Spanish*
Thanks to Katherine Pennacchio and Mariengracia Chirinos, the following
OONI documents are now available in Spanish:
* OONI Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): https://ooni.org/es/support/faq
* OONI Glossary: https://ooni.org/es/support/glossary
The Risks document had already been translated to Spanish by Derechos
Digitales: https://ooni.org/es/about/risks
Huge thanks to the translators who helped make important OONI documents
accessible to more communities worldwide!
*## Published blog post on the analysis of failed OONI measurements*
In March 2023, Gurshabad Grover (OTF Information Controls Research Fellow
at OONI) and Simone Basso (OONI engineer) published a new post titled: "How
we're improving OONI data quality: An analysis of failed measurements".
Read this post here:
https://ooni.org/post/improving-data-quality-analysis-of-failed-measurements/
You may have noticed that some OONI measurements are annotated as "failed".
This happens when the OONI Probe experiment fails to perform as expected
(e.g due to bugs).
To better understand why some OONI measurements fail, Gurshabad and Simone
analyzed 100 of the most failed Web Connectivity measurements collected
(during 3 days in June 2022) from India, Indonesia, and Pakistan (300
measurements in total).
They found that Web Connectivity measurements failed to the following
reasons:
* Instance of internet censorship
* Tested website was down
* Tested website was misconfigured
* Bugs
Out of the 3 countries, they found that most failed measurements (more than
75%) from Pakistan and Indonesia were symptomatic of internet censorship.
Based on this study, the authors identified some next steps for improving
OONI data quality:
https://ooni.org/post/improving-data-quality-analysis-of-failed-measurements/#conclusions-and-future-work
We encourage researchers to analyze failed OONI measurements and help us
further improve OONI data quality.
*## Published URL prioritization web interface*
OONI’s smart URL list system (
https://ooni.org/post/ooni-smart-url-list-system/) prioritizes the testing
of certain URLs over others. Currently, popular social media websites
(which are frequently blocked around the world) are prioritized for testing
the most globally.
To enable the internet freedom community to review URL priorities and
contribute feedback (i.e suggest URLs for testing prioritization), we
published a new URL prioritization web interface:
https://test-lists.ooni.org/prioritization
To this end, we added support for displaying URL priorities in the Test
Lists Editor interface (https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/646) and we
added a web form that enables community members to suggest URLs for
prioritization (https://github.com/ooni/test-lists-ui/pull/72).
*## OONI Probe Mobile*
In March 2023, we continued to improve upon the OONI Probe mobile app.
Specifically, we:
* Continued to make improvements to the next OONI Probe Mobile release
(3.8.0) based on feedback from internal testing;
* Made the Android Manifest general enough based on community feedback (
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1989);
* Continued working towards ensuring that the OONI Probe iOS app does not
crash when OONI backend services are down (
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2201);
* Continued working towards rewriting OONI Probe in Flutter (
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2359);
* Worked towards addressing a bug impacting status information in dark mode
(https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2423);
* Fixed bugs (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2427,
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2428).
*## OONI Run*
We released a new stable version of OONI Run (v1.0.0:
https://github.com/ooni/run/releases/tag/v1.0.0), which includes some of
the improvements which are backward compatible with older versions of OONI
Probe. These include support for using translations with a language
selector, copy edits, updating software dependencies and several bug fixes.
Following the release of OONI Run v1.0.0, we deployed it and made some
improvements to the deployment process.
We also merged the specification for the next generation of OONI Run which
is going to be implemented over the course of the next year:
https://github.com/ooni/spec/pull/249
*## OONI Probe CLI*
We continued working on the OONI Probe CLI 3.17 release. While performing
quality assurance, we noticed and fixed an issue that prevented mobile apps
from taking advantage of the prototype richer input functionality exported
by the OONI backend. We fixed this issue (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1123) and released OONI Probe CLI
3.17.1 (https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/releases/tag/v3.17.1).
Based on a community request, we exported all the internal Go packages used
by OONI Probe CLI (https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli) in the OONI Probe
Engine (https://github.com/ooni/probe-engine) repository. We will
semi-automatically update this repository after each minor release, to
allow community members to import our internal implementation details from
their applications and libraries written in Go.
We merged the dslx package, which provides a composable high-level API for
writing OONI experiments (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2402). For
additional information on this package, please take a look at the design
document that explains this functionality in detail:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/blob/master/docs/design/dd-005-dslx.md
We continued to investigate Android crashes caused by tor. We updated the
fdsan-related issue we previously opened in February 2023 (
https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/core/tor/-/issues/40747) providing
additional information on how the problem could be fixed in a way that
works on both Unix and Windows systems. We gathered additional evidence
regarding the pubsub_install crash and opened another issue in the tor
issue tracker (https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/core/tor/-/issues/40774).
*## Expanding OONI’s testing model to support richer testing input*
We continued exploring the design space around passing richer input to
experiments (https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/1295) by discussing
internally a way to update the check-in API and the OONI Run v2
specification to support richer testing input. We aim to review and
finalize this design document in the next development sprints and update
the existing PoC.
*## Creating a throttling measurement methodology*
We specified and implemented an integration testing tool, called “netem”,
to facilitate writing integration tests that simulate extreme throttling
conditions (https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2424). The netem tool,
which lives in its own GitHub repository (https://github.com/ooni/netem),
uses GVisor to create user-space TCP/IP network stacks. When running
integration tests, the traffic generated by OONI Probe uses its own GVisor
stack. We route this traffic through network links written in software that
simulate latency and losses. We started integrating netem (
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2431) with the OONI Probe CLI
repository (https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/).
*## OONI backend*
Throughout March 2023, we continued to work on a series of backend
improvements.
Specifically, we:
* Deployed the change to the fastpath to use fingerprints from GitHub (
https://github.com/ooni/pipeline/pull/407);
* Implemented the publication of the URL prioritization listing in the API (
https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/646);
* Added an updater for ASN metadata to the pipeline (
https://github.com/ooni/pipeline/pull/414);
* Implemented an API endpoint for mapping ASNs to AS organization names (
https://github.com/ooni/api/pull/326,
https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/635);
* Added domain and network endpoints to the API (
https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/641);
* Added backend support to the MAT to accept multiple values in input
parameters (https://github.com/ooni/api/pull/324,
https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/584);
* Removed the “test_name” check from the list of measurements in the API (
https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/647);
* Merged the pipeline and API git repositories into one to simplify and
speed up development (https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/638);
* Fixed the API integration test (after adding new columns to the fastpath)
(https://github.com/ooni/api/pull/325);
* Ensured that the rotation table history is maintained (
https://github.com/ooni/pipeline/pull/412);
* Increased the worker count and simplified the queue in the fastpath (
https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/650);
* Fixed a bug affecting the platform field extraction in the fastpath (
https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/652);
* Ensured that the API uses the fastpath repo in CI (
https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/649);
* Cleaned and refactored the codebase (
https://github.com/ooni/backend/pull/645);
* Implemented log collection on the monitoring host using Vector.
*## Automating censorship detection and characterization based on OONI
measurements*
We made stable progress on the front of automating the detection and
characterization of censorship based on OONI measurements.
In March 2023, we focused on analyzing DNS level interference, as
understanding the outcome of the DNS measurement is a prerequisite for the
interpretation of the following measurements. Specifically, we implemented
a DNS blocking analysis that is purely based on SQL queries and we set up a
system to assess its accuracy by comparing it with blocking fingerprints.
We experimented with applying machine learning algorithms to the DNS
analysis. They present very promising cursory results and we will be
exploring this avenue further.
The outcomes of this experimentation and DNS analysis were presented
internally to our team, as well as to external researchers in the network
measurement field to request feedback.
We also improved the validation of blocking fingerprints (
https://github.com/ooni/blocking-fingerprints/pull/6) and we removed a
fingerprint that was leading to false positives (
https://github.com/ooni/blocking-fingerprints/pull/7).
*## Improving the quality of test lists*
To improve the quality of test lists, we created a prototype script for
detecting and optionally automatically removing expired domains from the
lists. We implemented this functionality inside the OONI Probe CLI
repository (https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1114). We will test and
discuss this prototype with our partners to gather feedback and evaluate
the next steps.
For the time being, we decided to refrain from automatically removing
expired domains because we found cases where expired domains redirect to
other domains that are blocked (
https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1247) and, therefore, their
automatic removal would result in missing cases of censorship.
We also mined OONI data to identify URLs that were manually tested by OONI
Probe users, and which are not currently included in the Citizen Lab test
lists (https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/1228). Based on our
analysis, we identified more than 1,000 URLs (from the last 3 months) which
should be peer-reviewed (and categorized by country researchers/experts)
before added to the test lists (
https://gist.github.com/hellais/14e75ce8b9d5cf04f78644c8e9f66554#file-mine-data-ipynb).
In the meanwhile, we added a few of those URLs to test lists (
https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1250).
*## OONI interview for Roskomsvoboda’s Privacy Day event 2023*
In January 2023, OONI’s Maria provided an interview for Roskomsvoboda’s
Privacy Day 2023 event (https://2023.privacyday.net/), as part of which she
discussed how people in Russia can participate in OONI censorship
measurement.
In March 2023, Roskomsvoboda published the interview in a blog post (
https://roskomsvoboda.org/post/maria-xynou-ooni/) and on their YouTube
channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yugAH26CK0).
*## Community use of OONI data### Access Now’s press release on ongoing
social media blocks in Ethiopia*
In March 2023, Access Now published a press release urging Ethiopian
authorities to stop blocking access to social media platforms. As part of
this press release, they cite OONI measurements on the ongoing blocking of
social media platforms in Ethiopia.
Access Now’s press release is available here:
https://www.accessnow.org/press-release/ethiopia-social-media-protest/
*### Sinar Project’s article on verifying website blocks with OONI Explorer*
Our partner, Sinar Project, published an article (“Is the Website Blocked?
Verifying Internet Censorship with OONI Explorer”) which explains how to
verify the blocking of websites through the use of OONI Explorer.
Their article is available here:
https://imap.sinarproject.org/news/is-the-website-blocked-verifying-internet-censorship-with-ooni-explorer
*## Community activities### OONI workshop for election observers in
Kazakhstan*
On 9th March 2023, OONI’s Elizaveta facilitated an online workshop on
coordinating OONI censorship measurement campaigns for election observers
in Kazakhstan.
Following this workshop, the participants created a Telegram chat to
coordinate on OONI censorship measurement during Kazakhstan’s elections on
19th March 2023.
*### MozFest 2023*
On 22nd March 2023, OONI’s Arturo attended MozFest 2023 (
https://www.mozillafestival.org/), where he participated as a speaker on
the panel “Co-Creating A Better Tech Future: Mozilla Data Futures Lab” (
https://schedule.mozillafestival.org/session/EMSW79-1).
As part of his presentation, Arturo shared the activities OONI plans to do
(in creating the next generation OONI Run) as part of the Mozilla Data
Futures Lab 2023 cohort (https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/data-futures-lab/
).
*### DEMHACK 6 hackathon*
On 25th and 26th March 2023, OONI’s Simone and Elizaveta mentored the team
working on OONI’s task at the DEMHACK 6 hackathon (https://6.demhack.org/).
As part of this hackathon, the team of participants worked on developing a
script for the automatic identification of parked domains in the Citizen
Lab test lists.
*### OONI workshop for digital rights organizations from Central Asia*
Between 27th-29th March 2023, OONI’s Elizaveta participated in an in-person
training organized by CIPI and Internews for digital rights organizations
from Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan).
As part of this training, Elizaveta facilitated an OONI workshop and helped
the organizations determine how OONI data may be useful to their work.
*### RWC 2023*
Between 27th-29th March 2023, OONI’s Arturo traveled to Japan to attend the
Real World Crypto (RWC) 2023 conference (https://rwc.iacr.org/2023/).
The goal of attending this conference was to discuss with cryptographers a
problem OONI is trying to solve related to implementing a privacy
preserving way to authenticate probes and which might benefit from some
sort of anonymous credential system.
*### OONI Community Meeting*
On 28th March 2023, we hosted the monthly OONI Community Meeting on our
Slack channel (https://slack.ooni.org/), during which we discussed the
following topics:
1. Updates from the OONI team.
2. The effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Internet censorship in
Russia.
3. Enabling more extensive beta testing of OONI tools by the community.
4. OONI Probe Web: Community questions about the “URL Limit” feature.
*## Measurement coverage*
In March 2023, 61,415,821 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 3,058
AS networks in 167 countries around the world.
This information can also be found through our measurement stats on OONI
Explorer (see chart on “monthly coverage worldwide”):
https://explorer.ooni.org/
~ OONI team.
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