You heard that right — it’s here!
This week Access Now holds RightsCon (March 29-31), one of the world’s leading conferences on the intersection of human rights and technology. This year’s conference takes place in Brussels, the heart of European policymaking. There are more than 250 sessions, organized in 21 tracks, and 1,300+ speakers and attendees flying in from 95 countries. We’re tremendously excited to see you.
Here’s our final, official program representing a rigorous, wide-ranging exploration of the most pressing issues in digital rights across the globe. (See details on navigating our online program below.)
We kick off RightsCon on Wednesday, March 29th, and end on Friday, March 31st. Our satellite events start even sooner, though — Iran Cyber Dialogue 2017 starts today (March 27-28), and Tech and Foreign policy – Bridging the gap in the European Parliament and Youth for Rights both start Tuesday, March 28th — tomorrow! Here’s more background on Iran Cyber Dialogue 2017, with details from our partners.
We’re thrilled at this opportunity to connect. Whether you’re joining us in person or participating from afar, you’re what makes RightsCon an engine for positive change across the globe.
If you’re with us in Brussels or want to follow along, you can choose to navigate the schedule and plan your participation using the online program powered by Bizzabo (you’ll find the Bizzabo privacy policy here). You can follow a specific track — like the one on internet shutdowns, borders and boundaries, or privacy and data protection — and you can click on a speaker’s name and see which sessions the speaker is participating in (and whether they’ve tweeted about it!).
If you’re participating remotely, here are some other ways you can follow the action & take part:
1.) WATCH: Starting Wednesday, we’ll have a live stream of the sessions in the Palace Ballroom on the conference site.
2.) TALK TO US: We’re going to be live-tweeting on Twitter (Access Now handle, RightsCon handle), and posting on Facebook and Instagram. Key tweets will be translated into Arabic, French, and Spanish, thanks to our partnership with Meedan (follow in Arabic: @rightscon3rabi French: @rightscon2fr Spanish: @rightscon2es). Please join us and help spread the word: this is your #RightsCon.
Finally, a word about community and conduct. At Access Now, we are deeply committed to promoting human rights for all people. We want people to be excited to attend RightsCon, and we also want them to all feel safe — especially women, persons of color, and the LGBTQ community. That’s why we’re striving to create an inclusive space for important conversations to take place. Our Anti-Harassment Policy and Code of Conduct for RightsCon are aimed at fostering such an environment. Please take a moment to read through, and contact us with any questions you may have.
Welcome to RightsCon!