The 2018 RightsCon will be hosted by Access Now from Wednesday, May 16 to Friday, May 18, 2018, at the Beanfield Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
This year’s program will explore pressing issues including innovation policy in Canada, 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.
The host organisation is delighted to bring together over 2000 active participants to Canada’s largest city, Toronto for the seventh edition of the event, which also doubles as its most important summit.
RightsCon is where the world’s business leaders, technologists, engineers, investors, activists, human rights experts, and government representatives come together to build partnerships, shape global norms, showcase new technologies, and confront the most challenging issues at the intersection of human rights and technology
Since 2011, Access Now has convened the global digital rights community in many power centers around the world. For 2018, RightsCon was moved to a place that embodies the host core principles of human rights, diversity, and inclusion. Not only is Toronto a dynamic tech hub in a country that stands counter to recent global trends of isolationism and exclusion, it’s also one of the world’s most diverse cities.
Conference programming is created by the participants, which changes each year in response to emerging global issues, and has an explicit focus on driving tangible outcomes.
Over the three-day event, there is an average of 250 community-led, groundbreaking sessions. Highlights of these can be found here Past Events page.
More than an event, RightsCon is a global community with thousands of leading voices across stakeholder lines. It is an energizing reminder of the existence of a powerful global digital rights community that is determined to defend human rights and keep the internet open and free. Participants can learn who from the community will be joining RightsCon Toronto here.
RightsCon’s mission is to provide a platform for community members to effect real and positive change in the world through both traditional and innovative approaches. The event’s programming is not only an arena of global, regional, and national policy debates, it is home to technologists creating new tools, and advocates creating new campaigns.
RightsCon is the world’s leading event on human rights in the digital age and was originally called the Silicon Valley Human Rights Conference. RightsCon is now an annual event that rotates its location to cities around the world that are power centers for technology and human rights.
Access Now is an international not-for-profit organisation dedicated to defending and extending the digital rights of users at risk around the world. By combining innovative policy, global advocacy, and direct technical support, they fight for open and secure communications for all.
