APC at RightsCon 2018

RightsCon 2018 is taking place on 16-18 May in Toronto, Canada. More than 2,000 participants are expected at the seventh installment of this gathering, which will explore pressing issues including innovation policy, free expression and protection of global journalism, gender diversity and digital inclusion, encryption and cybersecurity, and many other topics relevant to keeping the internet free, open and secure worldwide.

APC will join RightsCon to promote conversations on a range of issues, including: 

• Promoting a human rights-based approach to cybersecurity 

• Sexual rights and the responsibility of the private sector, including the challenges that LGBTIQ/sexual rights activists face when using social media platforms

• Media concentration in the different layers of the internet, its impacts on human rights, and civil society’s response to this from a rights-based approach. 

Events where APC is participating

For session descriptions and other information, view the full programme.

DAY 1: 16 MAY

• 16.00 #feministinternet: Where is our movement now and where are we going?, organised by GANDA (Filipinas) with APC, Digital Rights Foundation (DRF), Feminism in India and Open Technology Fund.

DAY 2: 17 MAY

• 10.30 Digital Access: Bridging the divide or bringing exclusion?, organised by DEF, with APC, Derechos Digitales and others.

• 12.00 Who Did it? Why we need an International Cyber Attribution Organization to address nation-state attacks in cyberspace, organised by the Internet Governance Project, with APC.

• 14.30 What about the 'invisible' unconnected? Targeting gender digital divides with policies and measures informed by evidence from the Global South, organised by Research ICT Africa: Digital Policy Project, with Research ICT Africa, APC, WOUGNET and others.

• 14.30 Take on the Fake! Design thinking to combat fake news, organised by Media Matters for Democracy, with APC.

• 15.30 Revving up Civil Society Engagement at the ITU: The Road to the 2018 Plenipotentiary Conference, organised by Javier Pallero, with APC, GPD and others.

• 16.00 Masculinity in Online Spaces, organised by the DRF with APC.

DAY 3: 18 MAY

• 9.00 Don't say you don't know. Learn concrete tools to provide meaningful help to victims of non-consensual pornography on the internet from the Global South, organised by Acoso Online, with APC, DRF and others.

• 10.30 Sexuality and data: emerging tech, deepening responsibility, organised by APC, with Orange Group and others.

• 14.30 Frontiers of feminist issues online: understanding the tensions and opportunities at the intersection of innovation, digital rights and security, organised by IDRC, with APC, IDP and others.

• 14.30 The Internet Giants: concentration in the Internet layers and its impacts to freedom of expression and other human rights, organised by APC, with Intervozes, OBSERVACOM and others.

Events where APC members are participating

DAY 1: 16 MAY

• 10.30 Enforcing Net Neutrality with Evidenced Based Policy Making, organised by Open Technology Institute, with Maria Paz Canales (Derechos Digitales).

• 12.00 Reframing labour rights for the gig economy, organised by the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF).

• 17.15 Lightning Talks: Fostering Trust and Empathy in the Age of AI, with Metamorphosis Foundation.

• 17.15 Platform Politick: Redefining Digital Rights for the Platform Generation, moderated by Mark Graham.

• 17.15 Gendering Surveillance: From the Point of View of Marginalised Groups, with DRF and Anja Kovacs.

DAY 2: 17 MAY

• 10.30 Global Perspectives on Technology Facilitated Violence Against Women and Girls, organised by the Open Technology Institute and Digital Inclusion Lab, with Anja Kovacs.

• 10.30 Using tech to fight back - Muavin, an app to help counter online abuse, organised by Media Matters for Democracy.

• 10.30 Elections and information disorders in Latin America, organised by Derechos Digitales.

• 12.00 Human Rights Requirements of Cross-Border Data Demands, organised by the Center for Democracy and Technology, with Derechos Digitales.

• 13.20 Cybercrime reform in Latin America: findings on the implementation of the Convention of Budapest, organised by Derechos Digitales.

• 14.30 Archiving At Risk (and Risky) Information: You Don’t Know What You Got Til It’s Gone (Or Misused), organised by the Annenberg School for Communication, with Mark Graham.

• 14.30 Machine learning, human understanding: AI and access to knowledge, organised by Wikimedia Foundation, with Derechos Digitales.

• 16.00 Defending minority voices on a censored internet, organised by the Open Observatory of Network Interference, with 7amleh and Japleen Pasricha.

• 16.00 Mapping Digital Rights in Central America (and how to fund the work), with Sulá Batsú and Derechos Digitales.

• 17.15 Countering hate or suppressing speech? The case of Israel/Palestine, organised by the Palestinian Business Committee for Peace and Reform, with 7amleh.

DAY 3: 18 MAY

• 9.00 Reporting on the 2018 Global Internet and Jurisdiction Conference, organised by the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network, with Derechos Digitales.

• 9.00 Lightning Talks: UX, Civic Tech & Financial Inclusion,  with Media Matters for Democracy and Japleen Pasricha.

• 14.30 Lightning Talks: Transformative Technology in a Changing Global Economy, with Derechos Digitales.

• 17.15 Big Brother is Really Watching: Digital Surveillance & Gender-based Violence, organised by the Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) with EMPOWER.

More information on RightsCon:

RightsCon programme: https://www.rightscon.org/program/

Live comments and insights on Twitter: #RightsCon2018

In previous editions, APC representatives described RightsCon as:

A mandatory meeting point for those interested in promoting the full exercise of human rights online. While the perspectives of the global South do not yet fully permeate discussions in RightsCon, it is emerging as a space where they can be addressed, discussed and more fully understood, as well as giving rise to specific collaborative efforts and actions. (Valeria Betancourt, APC)

A great opportunity to connect with activists, journalists and academics interested in the role of freedom of expression and privacy on the internet. (Gisela Pérez de Acha, Derechos Digitales)

I would invite the organisers of RightsCon 2017 to stimulate discussion on internet access as a digital right, by inviting organisations working in this area to present papers. Such a valuable space as RightsCon should encourage discussion of issues related to spectrum management in our countries, civil society participation in the national bodies in charge of spectrum management, community networks, etc. (Ariel Barbosa, Colnodo)