[tor-project] OONI Monthly Report: March 2024

[Maria Xynou]

Hello,

This email shares OONI's monthly report for March 2024.

*# OONI Monthly Report: March 2024*

Throughout March 2024, the OONI team worked on the following sprints:

* Sprint 112 (1st-10th March 2024)
* Sprint 113 (11th-24th March 2024)

Our work can be tracked through the various OONI GitHub repositories:
https://github.com/ooni

Highlights are shared in this report below.

*## OONI Run*

As part of our work on creating the next generation version of OONI Run
(“OONI Run v2”), there were several key activities we undertook this month.
We continued QA testing for the revamped OONI Probe Android application,
and we fixed several issues that were found as a result (
https://github.com/ooni/run/issues/152,
https://github.com/ooni/run/issues/149,
https://github.com/ooni/run/issues/142,
https://github.com/ooni/run/issues/143,
https://github.com/ooni/run/issues/141,
https://github.com/ooni/run/issues/140).

We also continued QA testing for the new OONI Run v2 dashboard, which will
allow users to create and maintain their OONI Run links. We fixed several
issues that were found as a result of testing (
https://github.com/ooni/run/issues/150,
https://github.com/ooni/run/issues/145,
https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/1547,
https://github.com/ooni/run/issues/144,
https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/1540). We also finished refactoring
the API (https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/788).

*## OONI Probe CLI*

In March 2024, we released OONI Probe CLI 3.21.0:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/releases/tag/v3.21.0

Moreover, we:

* Added support for deploying the Web Connectivity Test Helper using a
Docker container on cloud platforms (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1520);
* Merged a community contribution to fix `tlsmiddleboxes` with IPv6 (
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/2689);
* Fixed a bug in our `./pkg/gobash` tool for automatically using the
correct version of Go where we were not correctly validating zip files (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1521);
* Reworked the `./pkg/oonimkall` package to facilitate using OONI Run v2
from mobile applications (https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1526);
* Merged a community contribution fixing the Tor Snowflake experiment (
https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1531).

*## OONI Explorer*

To identify which censorship findings would be most useful (for the
internet freedom community) to present on OONI Explorer (
https://explorer.ooni.org/), we conducted extensive user research in March
2024.

Specifically, we created a survey (https://forms.gle/tYv3pecJiUFfUfEh9),
which we shared widely with members of our community and with the broader
internet freedom community. The goal of this survey was to improve our
understanding of how community members use OONI Explorer, the types of
information that they find most useful, the challenges they encounter in
finding information, and how the platform could be improved to enable
access to censorship findings. We analyzed the survey results to inform
design and information architecture decisions that will guide the
implementation of pages that present thematic censorship findings on OONI
Explorer.

In addition to the survey, we also carried out interviews with members of
our community who use OONI Explorer as part of research and advocacy. The
goal of these interviews was to supplement the qualitative data collected
through the surveys, and to better understand how they use OONI Explorer
and the challenges they encounter in discovering censorship findings
through the platform.

Based on the findings from the survey and interviews, we created a
manually-curated list of domains that could be featured in each of the
thematic areas, and we started evaluating various approaches for presenting
relevant censorship findings.

On the development side of things, we made a few improvements to OONI
Explorer. Specifically, we improved the performance of the calendar
component on the MAT and Search pages (
https://github.com/ooni/explorer/commit/a437373e15f08ba935ec9772b1382535a78125c9),
and we improved the handling of errors  and validations on the OONI
Explorer country pages (
https://github.com/ooni/explorer/commit/edb33e2b4e89430d28ceee6530d602616e0cc437
).
Notably, the OONI dataset reached 2 billion measurements in March 2024 (
https://twitter.com/OpenObservatory/status/1764644397700841669)! We thank
our community for contributing measurements over the past decade, shedding
light on internet censorship worldwide.

*## Automating censorship detection and characterization based on OONI
measurements*

In March 2024, we made progress towards shipping the new OONI Data Pipeline
into production. Specifically, we integrated the pull request that
implements the new Experiment Result model into the main branch (
https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/43).

More importantly, we worked on researching orchestration systems for
running the periodic tasks necessary for analyzing and processing OONI
measurements (https://github.com/ooni/data/issues/46). We opened a pull
request that adds support for using Temporal as an orchestration system (
https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/58).

We also made a piece of very important refactoring, where we separate the
OONI Data Pipeline (that’s to be run on servers) from the command line
interface and library component that can be installed by end users (
https://github.com/ooni/data/pull/60).

*## Research collaborations with partners on upcoming reports*

We continued to coordinate with our partners on research efforts required
for upcoming research reports. Specifically, we coordinated with our
partners on extensive updates to the Citizen Lab test lists for Russia,
Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, and Iran.

In March 2024, the updates for the test lists of Russia and Kazakhstan were
finalized. Specifically:
* Roskomsvoboda updated the Russian test list:
https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1691
* Internet Freedom Kazakhstan(IFKZ) updated the test list for Kazakhstan:
https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/1695 (the pull request was
opened on 1st April 2024, but the work was conducted throughout March 2024)

*## Research report on internet censorship in Tanzania*

Beyond the aforementioned (upcoming) research reports, we have been working
on a research report that documents internet censorship in Tanzania based
on the analysis of OONI data collected between January 2023 to January 2024.

In March 2024, we completed all of the data analysis, research, and writing
required for our research report documenting internet censorship in
Tanzania. We scheduled the publication of this report in April 2024 to
enable more thorough review (both by the OONI team and local partners)
prior to publication.

*## Planning the OONI Partner Gathering 2024*

In preparation for the upcoming OONI Partner Gathering in Malaysia in May
2024, we continued to coordinate on numerous logistics (flights, shuttle
service, hotel, catering, etc.). We also assisted participants with visa
requirements as needed (though very few participants require e-visas, while
most participants don’t need visas to travel to Malaysia), and we
coordinated with designers on event-related supplies and materials.

Notably, we created and shared a survey with all OONI Partner Gathering
participants to collect their feedback, which will help shape and inform
the final agenda of the event. As our goal is to ensure that we create an
agenda that is valuable to all participants, we requested their feedback on
the types of sessions that they would find most useful, the types of skills
and knowledge that they would like to learn, and the outcomes that would
make their participation feel well spent. As participants started to fill
out the survey, we started to analyze the results and create a draft agenda
based on participant feedback.

In addition to the pre-Partner Gathering survey (which was designed to
collect feedback for the agenda), we also prepared a post-Partner Gathering
survey to collect participant feedback after the event. These two surveys
include a few mutual questions, which will enable us to compare and
evaluate the effectiveness of the event in sharing OONI-related skills and
knowledge.



*## Community use of OONI data### Publication by Oxford on how digital
technologies are used to wield authoritarian power during Russia’s 2024
presidential election*

Ahead of Russia’s March 2024 presidential election, researchers from the
Oxford Internet Institute and the University of Bremen published an article
which shares their insights on how digital technologies can be used to
wield authoritarian power in the context of the Russian election.

Their article makes use of OONI data, and is available here:
https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/news-events/2024-russian-presidential-elections-how-digital-technologies-are-used-to-wield-authoritarian-power/



*## Community activities### OONI demo at the OTF Internet Freedom Expos*

On 18th and 19th March 2024, OONI’s Arturo traveled to Washington D.C to
participate in the Open Technology Fund’s (OTF) Internet Freedom Expo at
the U.S Congress (
https://twitter.com/OpenTechFund/status/1773726871965802906).

As part of his participation, Arturo hosted an OONI demo and presented
OONI’s work.

*### OONI participation in Roskomsvoboda’s DEMHACK 8*

Between 29th-31st March 2024, Roskmosvoboda hosted the 8th hackathon in its
series of DEMHACK hackathons (https://8.demhack.org/). OONI participated in
this hackathon as a partner and as part of the jury board.

As part of DEMHACK 8, two teams used OONI tools and methodologies for their
hackathon projects. One team developed a prototype of the messengers'
accessibility tests for DPI Detector (
https://github.com/nomah4/ubiquitous-rotary-phone), using OONI Probe tests
as a reference. This team acquired third place in the hackathon.

Another team used OONI data and the OONI API to compare the Roskomnadzor
blocklist with the domains identified as blocked by OONI Probe, with the
goal of potentially creating an alternative blocklist based on OONI
measurements (https://github.com/1andrevich/ooni-zapret-list).

We hope to stay in touch with both teams to further collaborate on
investigating censorship in Russia.

*### OONI Community Meeting*

On 26th March 2024, we hosted the monthly OONI Community Meeting on our
Slack channel (https://slack.ooni.org/).

The topic of this meeting was “Network measurements and censorship
circumvention”, and we invited the following speakers:
* Ain Ghazal, Information Controls OTF Fellow with OONI
* Cecylia Bocovich, Tor Project
* Keith McManamen, Psiphon
* Diwen Xue, PhD Student, University of Michigan, Censored Planet

As part of this meeting, our invited guests shared their experiences and
some of the questions discussed (
https://pad.riseup.net/p/ooni-community-meeting-keep) include:
* Why is it important for circumvention projects to measure networks? How
do existing network measurement projects contribute to circumvention
technologies?
* What could both network measurement projects and circumvention
development projects do better in terms of measurement or in terms of data
sharing? What are the challenges to fill the existing gaps?
* How can network measurement data help inform circumvention tool
development and deployment efforts? What type of data would be most useful,
and what questions would you want such data to answer?
* What are the challenges associated with measuring and evaluating whether
a circumvention tool works?
* What is needed to help ensure that circumvention technologies are more
resilient to censorship?

*## Measurement coverage*

In March 2024, 58,901,099 OONI Probe measurements were collected from 2,904
networks in 173 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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