Our Priority

Please note: this policy has been updated as of February 7, 2025 to reflect our revised policy on photos, videos, and recording at RightsCon.

At its core, RightsCon is a platform and a gathering space for those working to defend and extend our human rights in the most challenging of circumstances. It is a convening designed to bring practitioners across stakeholder lines together, in order to build an agenda for a rights-respecting digital future.

As hosts, our number one priority in planning RightsCon is to ensure that we take all necessary and appropriate steps to protect vulnerable and at risk groups. It is our aim for RightsCon to be and remain a safe space for open discussions, where community members can participate without fear of harassment or harm.

Below are some important considerations and processes that we have developed in our efforts to have RightsCon as a space that is both inclusive and safe.

Participation

RightsCon is a public event, meaning that anyone can register and attend. While this public registration allows us to be inclusive and representative of diverse voices, we recognize, on the other hand, the potential implications this may have for participants who have taken considerable risk to be present and participate.

In order to facilitate a shared space that is safe and productive, we will provide specific guidelines on how to stay safe and engage ahead of each convening.

Privacy

For RightsCon 2025, no photo, video, or recording will be allowed by anyone except the RightsCon official photographer and videographer (who will wear clear credentials) on the second, third, or fourth floor of the venue. The first (ground) floor of the venue is a photo-and-video friendly environment.

During in-person RightsCon summits, participants are issued a RightsCon badge upon arrival that include – as provided in their registration form – their first name, last name, and affiliation. We require participant badges to be visible at all times. Participants without a badge will be barred from entering the summit space and attending sessions. People can choose a red lanyard to explicitly request that their participation not be documented or made public in any way, including on the first (ground) floor.

In an online setting, participants will not have different colored lanyards, and as a result, we request all participants refrain from filming, photographing, or posting on social media about any other participant without their express permission.

In every session, we ask that facilitators announce the level of privacy expected from participants, which may range from open attribution, to Chatham House rule, to no attribution. All participants should listen to and respect these guidelines.

Suspending or Revoking Participation

While RightsCon is open by design, we do reserve the right to revoke access, confiscate credentials, temporarily pause access to the platform, or otherwise restrict or deny entry to RightsCon spaces, at any time. We may take these steps in the event that an individual or their organization:

• presents a significant and immediate threat or risk to any member of the RightsCon community, including Access Now staff members and partners;
• is found to be in violation of our Code of Conduct or our event policies;
• is involved in illegal, privacy-violating, or violent activity, that jeopardizes the safety of the participant during and beyond the summit;
• otherwise acts contrary to our values.

In all cases, this decision will be a thoughtful and considered action and the decision to revoke access to RightsCon will be taken very seriously.