The 10th anniversary edition of RightsCon comes to a close today with a discussion on the opportunities and challenges of our future, featuring Xiaowei Wang, Creative Director, Logic Magazine; Mariam Barghouti, Writer, Researcher and Policy Analyst, Al-Shabaka; and Gbenga Sesan, Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative. You can view it here.
This year’s summit has been record-breaking across the board — with 9,120 participants tuning in from 164 countries for 527 sessions. The program reflected issues that were at the core of RightsCon when it started – privacy and transparency – and topics that are newer, but critical, additions, like disability rights and public health.
In this 10th anniversary edition, our second hosted online, the global RightsCon community has demonstrated its strength, solidarity, and resilience in the face of continuous disruption to our civic spaces. We hope the discussions and connections made have refueled our movement for the work ahead – over the next year and decade.
Over the last five days, we came together to solve problems, build partnerships, and achieve tangible outcomes. Here are just a few highlights of what we’ve accomplished at RightsCon this year:
- For the third consecutive year, nine – the most we’ve ever welcomed – United Nations Special Rapporteurs released a joint statement emphasizing digital rights as a “top priority” to rebuilding civic space in pandemic recovery.
- Between Opening and Closing Ceremonies, 25 new civil society organizations, and over 500 individuals, joined the #BanBS global coalition
Our Executive Director Brett Solomon's welcome message to the community at the Opening Ceremony of RightsCon 2021
I am excited to welcome you to the 10th iteration of RightsCon, especially those who are here for the first time. By the end of Friday, there will have been 23,381 experts, activists and policy makers - you - who have participated over these 10 years. From 400 participants when we first launched in 2011 to 8500 today.
It's not just a question of numbers, it's a question of who - we’ve had activists and anarchists, foreign ministers and CEO’s, High Commissioners and Special Rapporteurs celebrities and the nameless.
We have people participating from almost every country in the world. As may have gathered, we are as interested in empowering the grassroots as we are in holding the powerful accountable. I believe that is one reason why we received over 1000 session proposals from the global community in 2021.
Over the years, we have developed norms like the Toronto Declaration on AI; we have launched movements including #KeepItOn to stop internet shutdowns - in fact the definition language was drafted in a half day multi-stakeholder meeting at RightsCon and has ended up in every UN resolution ever since; we have kick-started campaigns like #WhyID calling for rights-respecting identity systems and #BanBS pushing for the banning of biometric recognition technologies in all publicly accessible spaces.
We have
From June 7-11, 2021, RightsCon will celebrate its 10th anniversary by bringing together more than 8,500 participants from 164 countries.
In 2011, we hosted the first RightsCon (then the Silicon Valley Human Rights Conference) with the recognition that protecting and extending the digital rights of users at risk would require bringing all stakeholders – from tech companies to government representatives to human rights defenders – to the table.
We see our 10th anniversary as an important opportunity to reflect on and communicate about how tech companies participate in and fund civil society spaces. |
The necessity of civil society-owned platforms like RightsCon has been made clearer by the growth and convergence of the issues and communities we welcome. What started as a two-day digital rights event with 400 participants now spans five days and every timezone, convening thousands for a program that encompasses everything touching human rights in the digital age.
This year’s RightsCon program – and those of past years – is packed full of conversations looking closely at how tech companies, their products, and their policies are impacting every aspect of our lives. To achieve change, we believe the companies need to be a part of that
Starting tomorrow, June 7, we are welcoming over 8500 participants from 150 countries to engage with our largest program to date in the 10th anniversary edition of RightsCon. Across five days, we will host over 500 sessions that cut across 16 program tracks and 10 intersectional themes from racial justice to disability rights and migration.
Registration ahead of the summit is an important step in our approach to convening safe, productive, and inclusive spaces at RightsCon. If you missed the registration deadline or are not able to participate in the full week of programming, no worries!
There are many options available for you to view recordings of sessions, engage with members of the RightsCon community on socials, share resources, and tap into the momentum of the summit.
The RightsCon platform for our 10th anniversary summit is now open for participants to login, explore, and start building their personalized program schedules ahead of the summit.
The RightsCon platform is the one-stop space for experiencing the entirety of the summit. Ahead of the summit starting, we encourage participants to read our guide and:
- Get set up by bookmarking the platform, building your profile, and setting your timezone;
- Explore the full program, which is navigable by format, track, intersecting theme, or language;
- Add to your personal schedule by marking which sessions you’re interested in attending;
- Make plans to connect with others by checking out the full participant and speaker lists;
- Review our general participation tips to ensure the best possible RightsCon experience.
This year, the RightsCon platform includes exciting new features:
- Add sessions directly to your n
The 10th anniversary of RightsCon is one week away (June 7-11, 2021) and we’re taking a moment to provide an update and reminder of core policies, principles, and processes that help ensure the space is safe, productive, and inclusive.
As with past years, the core principles and policies governing RightsCon, such as our Code of Conduct and our Participation & Privacy Policy, remain in place. By registering, participants agree to read through and abide by these policies.
Registered participants can find information about safety and security directly on the RightsCon platform, including on ways to report, details about our approach, and our ful
In 2020, when we transitioned RightsCon online for the first time, despite the uncertain environment, we were excited about the opportunity to increase representation more than ever before. While our online platform provided means for people to participate and connect across regions (we welcomed 7,681 participants), we also learned from this experience about the tech, language, and literacy barriers it created. During our planning process for the 10th anniversary of RightsCon (June 7-11, 2021), inclusion and accessibility have remained integral areas of focus.
What do we mean when we say inclusion and accessibility? While we often hear these concepts used loosely or interchangeably, we want to be intentional in our wording and transparent in our efforts. When we talk about inclusion, we’re referring to our commitment to ensure people from diverse backgrounds can actively participate, contribute to discussions, and have equitable opportunities in the RightsCon community. Increasing accessibility refers to designing our online spaces centered around the various needs, abilities, and priorities of participants and providing
For English click here
هل أنت مصمّم(ة) أو رسام(ة) كرتوني(ة) أو فنان(ة) رقمي(ة) أو هاوي(ة) من منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا و لديك شغف أو اهتمام بموضوع حقوق الإنسان في العصر الرقمي؟
هذه المسابقة لك!
معلومات حول المسابقة
تودّ خبز ونت (Bread & Net) ومنظّمة أكسس ناو (Access Now) دعوة المبدعين/ات والناشطين/ات من كافة أرجاء العالم العربي للاشتراك بمسابقة الفن الرقمي للمقاومة، وهي عبارة عن مسابقة تعرض كيف يُستخدم الفن من مختلف الأشخاص والحراكات في المنطقة للمُضيّ قُدما بحقوق الإنسان على الإنترنت وخارجها.
قد يختلف شكل فنّك، من رسم كرتوني أو صورة فنية رقمية أو لوحة تصويرية، ولكن ينبغي أن تُعبّر عن روح النشاط والمقاومة والصمود في المنطقة. تحلّوا بالجرأة والإبداع والإلهام! نرغب بأن يستكشف المشاركون أساليبهم وأفكارهم الشخصية من خلال هذه المسابقة.
الجوائز التي يتحصّل عليها الفائزون/ات
تُسند إلى الفائز(ة) بالمسابقة جائزة نقدية قدرها 1000 دولار أمريكي.
وسيتم عرض أفضل عشرة أعمال كجزء من معرض الفن الرقمي على شبكات التواصل الاجتماعي لـ SMEX و RightsCon.
وسيحصل جميع المشاركين
العربية
Are you a designer, cartoonist, digital artist, illustrator, or doodle enthusiast from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region who is passionate about human rights in the digital age?
This contest is for you!
About the contest
Bread&Net and RightsCon are inviting creatives and activists across the Arab world to join in the Digital Art of Resistance, a contest to showcase how people and movements across the region are using art to advance human rights, online and offline.
Whether in the form of a cartoon, digital art or an illustration, your image should capture the spirit of activism, resistance, and resilience in the region. Be bold, creative and inspiring. We’d love participants to explore their own personal styles and ideas in this contest.
What winners receive
- The winning artist will be awarded a cash prize of $1,000 USD.
- The top 10 entries will be featured in a digital art exhibition on SMEX and RightsCon social media channels.
- All participants will receive a free ticket to RightsCon 2021 (June 7-11). You can reg
The 10th edition of RightsCon (June 7-11) is less than a month away, and as plans for the program – our largest yet! – take shape, our team is excited to introduce a new initiative called Open Spaces to help our community connect, form partnerships, and advance the conversation for human rights in the digital age.
The idea for Open Spaces originated from feedback that we received from RightsCon Online (2020). Participants wanted to see more opportunities for networking and spaces to make “hallway” connections, socialize, and unwind, as we would have in an in-person setting. Open Spaces emphasize building partnerships, coalitions, and networks of trust within the RightsCon community – and, importantly, offer an opportunity to have a little fun and relax.
RightsCon 2021 will support three different formats for Open Spaces: Social Hours, Free Play, and After Dark.
☞ Social Hours are hosted in an integrated platform and provide flexible, informal space for meeting other participants on a variety of topics, from social or creative activities, games and icebreakers, to drop-in hours with funders and company leaders, and more. Every day of RightsCon will host a few Social Hours, each of which will open for 60 minutes and will feature virtual “tables” that seek to replicate the feel of meeting new and old friends over coffee breaks in an in-person summit.
