(cross-posted from
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:No_open_proxies/Unfair_blocking#Help_f…)
Hi folks, I'm DannyH from the Wikimedia Foundation. I manage the product teams that
build Contributor Tools -- Community Tech, Campaigns, CheckUser improvements and
sockpuppet detection, moderator tools on mobile web, and the new incident reporting
system.
I've been reading all of these conversations, and I'm concerned about the people
on both sides of the issue -- the admins working to keep the projects safe from bad-faith
people, and the good-faith people who are being blocked because of someone else's
rangeblock, or because they're using default network proxy features that they're
not aware of.
This problem is getting attention within the WMF. Foundation folks are really concerned
about what we're hearing on Wikimedia-L and in this discussion, especially because
there seem to be systemic issues that are specifically making things harder for new users
in Africa. I've got the opportunity right now to assign people to make software
changes to help solve this problem, which is great. But now I'm trying to figure out
what those software changes could be, and I don't have a clear answer yet for what
that should be.
So if you don't mind, I'd like to run through what I think the main points are,
and a list of possible directions that a solution could take, and then I would love it if
you could help me figure this out.
Here's what I understand about the problem:
* Open proxies are a vector for harassment and vandalism. Bad-faith long term abusers use
them to disguise their IP and evade detection. The projects automatically block open
proxies that they know about, to discourage the bad-faith vandals.
* There's been a big increase in proxy blocks since July 2021 on English Wikipedia
(and Oct 2021 on Spanish WP), because ST47ProxyBot has been getting trustworthy outside
data to help identify open proxies.
* The use of open proxies on the internet is rising, partly because people are becoming
more concerned about their privacy. Apple has introduced iCloud Private Relay, which is
disguising people's IP — this is currently in beta, but will probably become the
default. Google is working on a similar project. Our system of using IPs to identify block
vandals is gradually breaking down, and there will probably be a point when IPs just
won't be useful anymore.
* There are a lot of good-faith users, including first-time contributors, who are getting
caught in these blocks. For some people, that's an annoying inconvenience; for many
others, especially brand new people, it drives them away completely.
* There appears to be a systemic issue with how some African ISPs deal with IP addresses,
which is creating a lot of collateral damage in places where campaign organizers are
trying to introduce new users to wiki contribution. I saw one person mention that the
problem was especially bad in Ghana and Benin.
* The messages that people get when they're blocked are confusing, especially for new
people. They only get the message after they've made an edit and are trying to
publish, which is very frustrating.
* The solution for individuals is to request an IP Block Exemption, which can be either
local or global, depending on whether the block is local or global. The local/global
distinction is very confusing for people who are trying to make the request, and the whole
process is difficult.
* Each request has to be processed by hand, and the system gets backed up. It's
possible to get unblocked quickly if you know the right person to email, but a lot of
people just fill out the request, and then wait for who knows how long.
* It's possible for admins/stewards to get overwhelmed by the number of unblock
requests.
That's a cluster of many different problems, so now I'm trying to figure out which
problems we could actually make progress on.
Possibilities include:
* Mitigate the harm coming from open proxies, so we don't need to automatically block
them
* Understand the difference between a "dangerous" open proxy (which bad-faith
people are actually using) and a more "innocent" proxy (which is just blocked
because we know it's a proxy), and then treat them differently. (If it's possible
to make that distinction.)
* Make the messages to good-faith people more helpful and less frustrating
* Make the unblock request process easier/faster/more friendly for the people making
requests
* Make the unblock request process easier for the people responding, so they can process
them faster (or involve more people who can help)
* Make it easier for good-faith people to get some kind of automatic exemption
* Make it easier for campaign and editathon organizers to whitelist their participants
* Adapt the system better to the reality of African ISPs — figure out what the problem is,
and treat those ISPs differently
That's a lot, and it's not clear to me what the path forward should be. Can folks
help me out? What did I get wrong here, or what did I miss? Thanks in advance for your
help.
DannyH (WMF)
aka Danny Horn, Director of Product Management, Contributor Tools