RightsCon Program
Expansive in scope, the RightsCon program supports over 550 sessions across 18 tracks, and 6 different session formats focused on the intersection of human rights and technology.
What can you achieve with the RightsCon program
The RightsCon program is built to facilitate cross-sector connections, foster productive collaboration, and ultimately, turn conversation into concrete outcomes. Each session is designed with a distinct goal in mind to help you move your work forward and achieve your outcomes. Choose one of the 6 formats below that best serves your session goal:
Format
Dialogue
Explore perspectives around a thematic or regional issue area
Format
Roundtable
Consult and collect input from participants on a project, practice or policy
Format
Workshop
Build skills, co-create resources, and develop tactics
Format
Private Meeting
Collaborate and build support with invited stakeholders
Format
Lightning Talk
Deliver a concise call to action
Format
Tech Demo
Showcase a tool, technology, or technical project
Program Highlights
Developing a technologist code of ethics
United States Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power and New America Foundation CEO Anne-Marie Slaughter launched an initiative at RightsCon Online 2022 to develop a technologist code of ethics, in an effort by civil society and technologists to build a rights-respecting digital future.
Program Highlights
Safeguarding from harmful technologies
UN experts present at RightsCon Costa Rica (2023) issued a joint statement calling for greater transparency, oversight, and regulation to address the negative impacts of new and emerging digital technologies.
Program Highlights
Regulating online platforms
The Manila Principles, a civil society initiative established at RightsCon Manila (2015), set out guidelines on internet intermediary liability. Since then, the push for platform accountability has led to deeper partnerships between company decision-makers, such as Facebook’s Strategic Response team, and activists in our summit space.
Program Highlights
Responding to shutdowns
The #KeepItOn coalition, a network of more than 220 organizations from 99 countries, was formed at RightsCon Silicon Valley (2016). The summit also marked the first international consensus on the definition of an internet shutdown.
Program Highlights
Healthcare on the internet
With internet pharmacies and telemedicine on the rise, the Prescription Justice Institute developed the Brussels Principles to ensure safety and quality in the sale of medical products online. Named for RightsCon Brussels (2017), the principles continue to inform approaches to digital health, including responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Program Highlights
Human rights principles in AI
At RightsCon Toronto (2018), Access Now and Amnesty International launched a landmark declaration on the right to equality and nondiscrimination in machine learning. The Toronto Declaration addresses the risk of human rights harms associated with artificial intelligence technology.
Program Highlights
Combating hate speech
Equality Labs released a report at RightsCon Tunis (2019) detailing the failures of Facebook India’s content moderation policies to protect caste, religious, gender, and queer minorities from hate speech. The report has been cited widely, most recently in an open letter that prompted the resignation of policy chief Ankhi Das.
Program Highlights
Digital ID
Created in a closed-door Solve My Problem session at RightsCon Tunis (2019), the #WhyID coalition asks key decision-makers to consider the human impact of digital identity programs. Signatories include Audrey Tang, (Digital Minister, Taiwan), and Charles Mok (Legislative Councillor on IT, Hong Kong).
Program Highlights
Ban Biometric Surveillance
During RightsCon Online 2021, 25 new civil society organizations, and over 500 individuals, joined the #BanBS global coalition, a powerful new network working together to ban biometric surveillance. The coalition had evolved from a Solve My Problem session at RightsCon Online 2020.
Program Highlights
Developing a technologist code of ethics
United States Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power and New America Foundation CEO Anne-Marie Slaughter launched an initiative at RightsCon Online 2022 to develop a technologist code of ethics, in an effort by civil society and technologists to build a rights-respecting digital future.
Program Highlights
Safeguarding from harmful technologies
UN experts present at RightsCon Costa Rica (2023) issued a joint statement calling for greater transparency, oversight, and regulation to address the negative impacts of new and emerging digital technologies.
Program Highlights
Regulating online platforms
The Manila Principles, a civil society initiative established at RightsCon Manila (2015), set out guidelines on internet intermediary liability. Since then, the push for platform accountability has led to deeper partnerships between company decision-makers, such as Facebook’s Strategic Response team, and activists in our summit space.
Program Highlights
Responding to shutdowns
The #KeepItOn coalition, a network of more than 220 organizations from 99 countries, was formed at RightsCon Silicon Valley (2016). The summit also marked the first international consensus on the definition of an internet shutdown.
Meet our community
Every year, the RightsCon program is sourced through our annual Call for Proposals. Over 600 organizations hosted sessions for RightsCon Costa Rica. Meet a selection of our session organizers below:
