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Brett Solomon

Executive Director

Brett Solomon is the Executive Director and co-founder of Access Now, where he leads the organization’s fight to defend and extend the digital rights of users at risk around the world. He oversees the high-level strategy for Access Now’s programmatic portfolio, is responsible for the organization’s growth and operations, and heads up the global team numbering over a hundred staff. Brett has represented Access Now at numerous national and international fora, including at the United Nations and at Davos, and is often quoted in the media including in the New York Times and on the BBC. As a skilled and experienced advocate, he has been an important leader in several campaigns and coalitions at the intersection of human rights and new technology. He has given two TED Talks, on digital democracy and on the right to peaceful protest. He was a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Data Policy and Global Agenda Council on the Future of the Internet. Brett is also the founder of RightsCon, the world’s leading summit on human rights in the digital age, which every year convenes thousands of experts, activists, technologists, and leaders from government, the private sector, and civil society. Before Access Now, Brett honed his skills at a range of human rights and civil society organizations including Avaaz, GetUp, Oxfam Australia, and Amnesty International Australia. Brett has a Bachelors in Arts and Law from the University of Sydney and a Masters in International Law at the University of New South Wales.

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Not the Place for FOMO: Opening Remarks from RightsCon Southeast Asia

24 Mar 2015

Opening remarks from Access’ Executive Director Brett Solomon at RightsCon Southeast Asia.

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Not the Place for FOMO: Opening Remarks from RightsCon Southeast Asia
24 Mar 2015
Not the Place for FOMO: Opening Remarks from RightsCon Southeast Asia
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Why Companies Come to RightsCon

16 Mar 2015

RightsCon is unique because we actively invite numerous stakeholders to the table, and this includes representatives from internet pioneers such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, LinkedIn, Twitter, Microsoft, and also telcos from around the world including Telenor and Smart. Why do we invite companies to join us? Because businesses impact human rights.

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Why Companies Come to RightsCon
16 Mar 2015
Why Companies Come to RightsCon
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RightsCon Southeast Asia: New Frontiers in Digital Rights

5 Mar 2015

Two weeks from now, Access will head to Manila to host RightsCon — our signature conference featuring digital rights activists, companies, government officials, technologists, and academics — together with our partners Engage Media and the Foundation for Media Alternatives. We’ll be tackling the most pressing issues affecting digital rights and the open internet.

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RightsCon Southeast Asia: New Frontiers in Digital Rights
5 Mar 2015
RightsCon Southeast Asia: New Frontiers in Digital Rights
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The dangers of a militarized internet

9 Dec 2014

Global conversations on cybersecurity, particularly in the west, have been largely focused on securing critical infrastructure. This nation-state-level focus has, perhaps unsurprisingly, implicated the military in defending a country’s national borders and national infrastructure, with “cyber” now joining air, land, sea, and space as a 5th domain of military warfare. To maintain the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the digital age, nations must now advance a user-focused approach to cybersecurity.

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The dangers of a militarized internet
9 Dec 2014
The dangers of a militarized internet

UPDATED: Why I’m going to Geneva for the NetMundial Initiative

27 Aug 2014

This has already been a historic year in internet governance, from the NetMundial to the first steps of the IANA transition to the announcement of the modalities for the WSIS+10 Review and the ITU Plenipotentiary ahead. As governments, corporations, civil society, and the technical community assess this changing landscape, we should now add the NetMundial Initiative (NMI), which will hold its first meeting in Geneva this week.

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UPDATED: Why I’m going to Geneva for the NetMundial Initiative
27 Aug 2014
UPDATED: Why I’m going to Geneva for the NetMundial Initiative

Remembering Aaron Swartz

14 Jan 2013

We were deeply saddened to learn this weekend of the passing of Aaron Swartz: a friend, fighter, and spark of brilliance. Many of us at Access knew Aaron well–we were lucky enough to share an office with him for a chunk of time between 2011 and 2012. We’d find him there, in front of a spread of screens–in late, in early, and sometimes not at all. His unpredictable and irrepressible approach to life–and his life’s work–was one of his most defining characteristics.

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Remembering Aaron Swartz
14 Jan 2013
Remembering Aaron Swartz