RightsCon is happening online this year! Here is a program snapshot for the MENA region

Every year we hold the world’s leading summit on human rights in the digital age. For its ninth edition, RightsCon 2020 will take place entirely online. From Monday, July 27 to Friday, July 31, 2020, we invite you to sign up, log in, and join us. Registration has been extended to close on Tuesday, July 21!

We are bringing together the world’s leading expert technologists, human rights defenders, government representatives, and academics to cover issues ranging from connectivity and internet shutdowns, to protest and participation, peacebuilding, development, and humanitarian response, disinformation and online hate, and much more. We have just launched our program, which includes an exciting number of dynamic, and in-depth sessions on digital rights issues in  Middle East and North Africa region:

• Data collection and open source investigations: advancing accountability and justice in the Middle East (Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy; Eshhad)
• Dissecting the (not so) democratic drama: reflecting on the digital manipulations and political persecutions in the Tunisian 2019 elections (Bloggeurs sans Chaines)
• They don’t really care about us: social media platforms and disinformation in the Arab World (Oxford Internet Institute)
• Behrouz Boochani: writing No Friend But the Mountains from Manus prison on WhatsApp (ARTICLE 19; Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University)
• Can you hear us? Internet shutdown in Iran, what have we learned? (NetFreedom Pioneers: Toosheh/Knapsack For Hope)
• Filterwatch: how state policies and private companies undermine digital rights in Iran (Small Media Foundation)
• Virtual Field Visits and Contextualization for Human Rights Advocacy (Al-Haq)
• Unlocking the truth: documenting political prisoners globally (United for Iran)
• After the revolution: innovations and lessons from Sudan (Gisa Group)
• A world in revolution: lessons and tactics from 2019 protests (SMEX; Open Technology Fund)
• Internet shutdowns in the Arab region: a challenge to defeat (SMEX)
• Litigating against surveillance (Global Freedom of Expression at Columbia University; EFF)
• In the public eye: reporting on protests under the surveillance state (Committee to Protect Journalists; Derechos Digitales)

RightsCon Online will be taking place on a tailored platform, built specifically for us by TechChange. It will open on July 22, 2020, the week before RightsCon Online, giving all participants the opportunity to familiarize with the space, and build their own personal agenda for the sessions they wish to participate in.

Again, registration closes on July 21, 2020, and while we’ve waived registration fees this year, there is a cap on the number of participants. Secure your spot today!

Also, as part of our commitment to uphold diversity and representation, we have launched The Connectivity Fund, which will provide direct financial support for participants to connect and engage with RightsCon Online. Applications are due by July 21, so apply today!

For more information about RightsCon 2020, check out this FAQ or please feel free to contact us at [email protected] with any questions you may have.