This year, the 13th edition of RightsCon is taking place in Taipei, Taiwan. This event is an important gathering space for the APC community, where we can come together to strengthen our collective advocacy and ensure that civil society is strongly represented in this global multistakeholder summit.
The schedule of RightsCon sessions that members of the APC network are organising and speaking at is available here.
Below you will find a collection of valuable resources to help be prepared and informed for the event. These include social media guidelines and key readings from our network focusing on our strategic priorities at RightsCon this year, including expanding notions of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), the environmental implications of information and communications technologies (ICTs), and the role of technology in contexts of war and conflict.
Insights for collective reflections
Reimagining, broadening and expanding TFGBV and transnational solidarity
This brief reflection aims to weave together insights from panel discussions alongside the theoretical imperatives concerning the necessity of rethinking technology-facilitated violence. In the third cycle of the Feminist Internet Research Network (FIRN), we collaborated with 10 research partners from the Global South/Global Majority. Each partner examined TFGBV through an intersectional feminist perspective. Concurrently, in multiple international conferences, FIRN has fostered a broader comprehension of the discussions surrounding TFGBV, particularly in the context of global conflicts and genocides.
Placing "gender" in disinformation
This report responds to APC's belief that it important to characterise gendered disinformation, because it relates to a specific type of violation of women’s and gender-diverse people’s rights, in particular their freedom of expression, which is not properly encapsulated by other concepts.
GISWatch 2024 special edition: WSIS+20: Reimagining horizons of dignity, equity and justice for our digital future
Twenty years ago, stakeholders gathered in Geneva at the first World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and affirmed a “common desire and commitment to build a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society.” This special edition of Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) considers the importance of WSIS as an inclusive policy and governance mechanism, and what, from a civil society perspective, needs to change for it to meet the challenges of today and to meaningfully shape our digital future.
Weaponisation of communication technology against civilians in Palestine and Lebanon
The lack of accountability for the atrocities committed in Gaza has paved the way for further aggression against civilians across the region, marked by the malicious use of communications technology and infrastructure. In both Palestine and Lebanon, weaponisation of technology is fuelling new forms of oppression and adding to the suffering of people already living through extreme hardship.
Principles for community-centred connectivity initiatives
Community-centred connectivity initiatives are set up and evolve in many different ways, depending on the needs and opportunities that exist in communities, and the cultural, socioeconomic and political contexts in which they occur. They are, by their very nature, responsive to their context and environment. They are complementary to the internet access offered by commercial service providers and state-sponsored public access networks.
More resources on shaping the future together
GISWatch 2021-2022: Digital futures for a post-pandemic world
Through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic, this edition of Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) highlights the different and complex ways in which democracy and human rights are at risk across the globe, and illustrates how fundamental meaningful internet access is to sustainable development.
Threading feminist digital futures for our planet
This digital quilt is an invitation to thread connections and collaboration between digital rights, environmental justice and feminist movements, building solidarity through mutual learning and connecting towards collective action for Earth justice. Share a wish, an experience, a hope, an intention, a story, in any format you feel is more suitable (image, text, video, audio). How do you care?
#TheIGFWeWant campaign
Large multistakeholder forums likes the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and RightsCon are critical spaces for civil society to collectively advocate for a rights-respecting internet. To have the internet we want, we need a strengthened IGF. Join the campaign and share why you think the IGF is a key space for multistakeholder dialogue.
About our host country in 2025
GISWatch reports from Taiwan
Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) reports specifically focused on Taiwan.
Seeding change in Taiwan
Open Culture Foundation worked with civil society groups to push the Taiwanese government to reject digital ID cards until legislation is implemented to safeguard the privacy and information of the public.
Social media guidelines
How can you engage?
Follow us on social media, where we’ll be sharing updates on Mastodon, BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Feel free to spread the word elsewhere, including via email or messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal.
Hashtags: #RightsCon2025 #GenderandCybersecurity #FeministInternet #TechandClimateJustice #InfrastructuresofCare
Languages: We encourage you to share your own stories, impressions, concerns, videos and any type of content in the language you’re most comfortable. From the APC accounts, we’ll be sharing content in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.
Join (and share) our network’s sessions!