As Access Now prepares to host the 13th edition of RightsCon, the APC network is gearing up to participate actively in the event both in-person and remotely. Hosted in East Asia for the first time, RightsCon will take place in Taipei, Taiwan, from 24 to 27 February. This year's edition will offer 550 sessions across 18 tracks, with six session formats all centred around the intersection of human rights and technology. This year the event continues in a hybrid format, allowing participants to join both in person and remotely.
APC staff, members and partners will once again play an active role throughout the event, offering many opportunities for us to connect and deepen our collective advocacy efforts. The APC network has a long history of participation at RightsCon as organisers, speakers and facilitators, and this year we are again dedicated to meaningful engagement throughout the event. We have outlined our strategic priorities, and committed to bringing the voices of our network to the forefront throughout the sessions and satellite events.
Beyond connecting with others, the event also serves as a platform for the APC network to deepen collective reflection on central themes, such as updating the understanding of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) and discussing community-centred connectivity initiatives. We will also be thinking together of our actions at the intersection of information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the serious crises faced today.
To join the discussions, be sure to register for RightsCon 2025 via their online portal, where you will find access to this year's programme and important logistics information.
We have prepared below a list of events where the APC network is participating, and encourage everyone to go through it in advance and note the sessions you would like to attend. The modality (in-person or remote) is indicated for each session.
This list will continue to be updated as new information arrives, so keep an eye on it for more details! You will also find a collection of key resources and readings to help prepare for the event here.
EVENTS AND SESSIONS WHERE YOU WILL FIND APC STAFF, MEMBERS AND PARTNERS
Day 0 - Monday, 24 February
Expanded notions of Technology-facilitated Gender Based Violence (TF GBV)
9:00 - 15:15 local time | 1:00 - 7:15 AM UTC | In-person (Room 101D) | More info
APC and the Feminist Internet Research Network (FIRN) will be hosting a satellite event at RightsCon 2025 on "Expanded notions of Technology-facilitated Gender Based Violence (TF GBV)" on 24th February. The maihow you can participate at this linkn objectives of this one-day event are to expand the understanding and notions around TF GBV, explore a timeline of activism and recognition of online GBV/TF GBV in the past decades, as well as to connect it to the ongoing social and political realities, especially of war, conflict and repression in different parts of the world. Find out more and how you can participate at this link.
APC organising
Mutual support: Amplifying the voices of digital rights defenders in Taiwan and East Asia
9:00 - 12:30 local time | 1:00 - 4:30 UTC | In-person (Room 101C) | Register here
Hosted by APC member Open Culture Foundation in collaboration with APC member FLAME
SplinterCon @ RightsCon
10:00 - 15:00 local time | 2:00 - 7:00 UTC | In-person (Room 101B)
Hosted by APC member eQualitie
Criminalisation of Tor in Ola Bini´s case? Lessons for digital experts in the global South
9:00 - 10:00 local time | 1:00 - 2:00 UTC | Online
Asia Pacific civil society regional meetup
15:15 - 16:15 local time | 7:15 - 8:15 UTC | In-person (Room 402B)
Hosted by APC, EngageMedia and AccessNow, facilitated by APC
Re-imagine Myanmar
17:45 - 19:15 local time | 9:45 - 10:15 UTC | In-person (RSVP here)
Join us for a deep dive into Myanmar’s decentralised tech ecosystem and the evolving role of civic technology in our pro-democracy movement.
Hosted by APC member Exile Hub
Day 1 - Tuesday, 25 February
APC Booth
9:00 - 17:00 | 1:00 - 9:00 UTC | In-person (Community Village, 3rd floor)
Come join us at the Community Village for great activities throughout the day and connect with the rest of the APC network!
Hosted by APC
Actions for environmental justice from autonomous and community-based technological infrastructures
9:00 - 10:00 local time | 1:00 - 2:00 UTC | In-person (Room 202A)
Co-hosted by APC members Sursiendo and May First Movement Technology
Accountability on the net: Building tools for a meaningful multistakeholder cooperation
9:00 - 10:00 local time | 1:00 - 2:00 UTC | In-person (201D)
APC member Derechos Digitales and APC associate Mallory Knodel speaking
Resisting repressive regulations: CSO strategies from across the Indo-Pacific
11:30 - 12:30 local time | 3:30 - 4:30 UTC | In-person (Room 201D)
APC members Media Matters for Democracy and Thai Netizen Network speaking
Asia’s approach to internet freedoms: On paper vs. in practice
12:45 - 13:45 local time | 8:45 - 9:45 UTC | In-person (Room 101A)
APC moderating
African feminist manifesto on the future of work(ers)
13:30 - 14:30 local time | 5:30 - 6:30 UTC | Online
Hosted by APC member Pollicy
Re-thinking digital security training from a feminist perspective and victims’ experiences
16:30 – 17:30 local time | 8:30 – 9:30 UTC | In-person (Room 201D)
APC member FLAME organising and speaking, APC member OCF speaking
Defending the defenders: tips and tools for collaborating and securing your work
16:30 - 17:30 local time | 8:30 - 9:30 UTC | Online
APC member EngageMedia speaking
Resistance & resilience: Collaborative responses to online attacks on environmental defenders
19:00 - 20:00 local time | 11:00 - 12:00 UTC | Online
Co-hosted by APC member Intervozes, APC and APC member Intervozes speaking
The Gulf, connected: How GCC countries’ economic power endangers digital rights
17:45 - 18:45 local time | 9:45 - 10:45 UTC | Online
Hosted by APC member SMEX
Due diligence for responsible AI: critiquing international guidance protecting workers rights in (in)visible supply chains
19:00 - 20:00 local time | 11:00 - 12:00 UTC | Online
APC partner IT for Change speaking
Decolonising digital rights and data
21:30 - 22:30 local time | 13:30 - 14:30 UTC | Online
APC member 7amleh – The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media speaking
Day 2 - Wednesday, 26 February
The power of data: The good, the bad, the worse
1:00 - 2:00 local time | 17:00 - 18:00 UTC | Online
APC member Derechos Digitales speaking
How can infrastructure help resiliency? Building up with quilombolas and communities under threats
6:00 - 7:00 local time | 22:00 - 23:00 UTC (25 February) | Online
APC member Nupef speaking
Human rights and the global digital compact: Private sector implementation and the evolving digital landscape
9:00 - 10:00 local time | 1:00 - 2:00 UTC | Online
APC member Derechos Digitales speaking
Missing the full picture: Challenging gender-blind responses of platforms to disinformation
10:15 - 11:15 local time | 2:15 - 3:15 UTC | Hybrid (Room 202B & Online)
Hosted by APC, APC and APC member Pollicy and APC associate Gayatri Khandhadai speaking
Tech giants and genocide: Indigenous struggles for digital justice
10:15 - 11:15 local time | 2:15 - 3:15 UTC | In-person (Room 102)
APC member 7amleh – The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media speaking
Crafting digital futures: Innovating from and for Central America
10:15 - 11:15 local time | 2:15 - 3:15 UTC | In-person
APC member Sula Bastú speaking
Navigating the impact of internet shutdowns
10:15 - 11:15 local time | 2:15 - 3:15 UTC | In-person (Room 201A)
APC members SMEX and 7amleh – The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media speaking
Roundtable with privacy regulators
11:30 - 12:30 local time | 3:30 - 4:30 UTC | Hybrid (Online and Room 202B)
APC associate Mallory Knodel speaking
Navigating online spaces as LBQ women: Perspectives from Asia
12:45 - 13:45 local time | 4:45 - 5:45 UTC | In-person (Room 201A)
APC associate jac sm kee speaking
Cyber security for activists: challenges and best practices
12:45 - 13:45 local time | 4:45 - 5:45 UTC | In-person (Room 101C)
APC member SMEX speaking
Reimagining balancing individual and collective approaches to privacy and data protection and data-driven harms
12:45 - 13:45 local time | 4:45 - 5:45 UTC | In-person (Room 203A)
APC member SMEX speaking
#Equalonline: Decolonial imaginations of digital autonomy for women, queer folx, persons with disabilities
14:00 - 15:00 local time | 6:00 - 7:00 UTC | In-person (Room 201D)
Co-hosted by APC member Point of View
The perpetrators gaze: Seeking to understand perpetrators of OGBV
14:00 - 15:00 local time | 6:00 - 7:00 UTC | In-person (Room 402A)
Co-hosted by APC members Pollicy, Sulá Batsú, TEDIC & Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET)
Democratic election disruption through internet censorship and the role of VPNs in upholding electoral integrity
14:00 - 15:00 local time | 6:00 - 7:00 UTC | In-person (Room 101B)
APC member Media Matters for Democracy speaking
Citizens for citizens: Digital security supports in Taiwan from individual to regional projects
14:00 - 15:00 local time | 6:00 - 7:00 UTC | In-person (Room 101C)
APC member Open Culture Foundation organising
#ReconnectGaza Campaign Launch
14:00 - 16:00 local time | 6:00 - 8:00 UTC | Grand Hyatt Hotel, Taipei
Join 7amleh for the launch of the #ReconnectGaza Campaign, a global advocacy effort to rebuild Gaza’s telecommunications infrastructure. The event begins with a campaign presentation, including insights from Nadim Nashif and Jalal Abukhater on Gaza telecommunications infrastructure, an assessment of damages and humanitarian Impact, followed by actionable solutions to ensure Gaza’s connectivity as a fundamental human right. The second half features the expert panel "Connectivity as a Lifeline: Restoring Human Rights Through Telecommunications", moderated by Eric Sype (7amleh). Panelists Marwa Fatafta (Access Now), Hanna Kreitem (Internet Society), Deborah Brown (Human Rights Watch) will discuss the intersection of connectivity, human rights, and humanitarian needs
Hosted by APC member 7amleh – The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media
Civil society and tech engagement to enhance content moderation in Southeast Asia
15:15 - 16:15 local time | 7:15 - 8:15 UTC | In-person (201E)
APC member Foundation for Media Alternatives speaking
Crisis response: Interactive workshop on the Gaza experience
15:15 - 16:15 local time | 7:15 - 8:15 UTC | In-person
APC member SMEX speaking
Tech solutions to counter tech-enabled information disorder: Strategies for MENA and the Global South
15:15 - 16:15 local time | 7:15 - 8:15 UTC | In-person (201E)
APC member 7amleh – The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media speaking
Access denied: Resisting censorship, hate speech, and misinformation around SRHR content in the Arab region
15:15 - 16:15 local time | 7:15 - 8:15 UTC | Online
APC member SMEX speaking
Investigating the place of AI in advancing digital rights through digital kinship
15:15 - 16:15 local time | 7:15 - 8:15 UTC | Online
APC member Pollicy speaking
Figures for social change: How to use quantitative survey data in intersectional advocacy on TFGBV
16:30 – 17:30 local time | 8:30 – 9:30 UTC | In-person (Room 201C)
APC member Pollicy speaking
Impact of the EU Digital Services Act on free expression and crime documentation in conflict
16:30 – 17:30 local time | 8:30 – 9:30 UTC | In-person (Room 101A)
APC member SMEX speaking
Birosca: Care, women and technology, a video-documentary about a transfeminist project, in the early 2000s
16:30 – 17:30 local time | 8:30 – 9:30 UTC | In-person (Room 201B)
APC speaking
Shifting powers through Afrofeminism: exploring data ownership and informed consent through an Afrofeminist lens
19:00 - 20:00 local time | 11:00 - 12:00 UTC | Online
Hosted by APC member Pollicy
Résistances numériques en contexte francophone
22:45 - 23:45 local time |14::00 - 15:00 UTC | Online
APC member 7amleh – The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media speaking
Day 3 - Thursday, 27 February
Preserving local cultures: Building community networks in rural and Indigenous communities
9:00 - 10:00 local time | 1:00 - 2:00 UTC | Hybrid (Room 202A & Online)
Co-hosted by APC and APC partners Rhizomatic and ISOC, APC members Common Room, DEF and REDES speaking
Brave but exposed! Urgent digital wellbeing for women activists in Tanzania, Sri Lanka and Cameroon
9:00 - 10:00 local time | 1:00 - 2:00 UTC | In-person (201E)
APC member Zaina Foundation speaking
Building digital fortresses: Enhancing digital resilience for women in media
10:15 - 11:15 local time | 2:15 - 3:15 UTC | In-person (Room 201C)
APC member Pollicy speaking
Narratives under siege: Social media's role and responsibilities in protecting defenders
10:15 - 11:15 local time | 2:15 - 3:15 UTC | In-person (Room 101AC)
APC member 7amleh – The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media speaking
Digital rights, human-centered tech & AI, and the right to disconnect
11:30 - 12:30 local time | 3:30 - 4:30 UTC | In-person (South Lobby)
Co-hosted by APC member Common Room
Online violence against women, queer and BIPOC people in politics
11:30 - 12:30 local time | 3:30 - 4:30 UTC | In-person (Room 401)
APC member TEDIC speaking
In case of emergency: Responsible entry
12:45 - 13:45 local time | 8:45 - 9:45 UTC | In-person (Room 401)
APC member SMEX speaking
This list will continue to be updated as new information arrives, so keep an eye on it for more details!