IMPORTANT UPDATE: Like many of our readers, members, and partners, APC has just officially learned that RightsCon 2026 will not proceed in Zambia or online. On 29 April the event organiser, Access Now, announced with heavy hearts that the awaited summit will not take place. While we await further information, the schedule below has been postponed indefinitely.
RightsCon26 is back for its 14th edition, this year taking place in Lusaka, Zambia, from 5 to 8 May 2026. RightsCon is an important space for the APC network: it is an opportunity to come together around key themes, to share our work with a diverse multistakeholder base, and to reaffirm our commitment to addressing critical and emerging issues at the intersection of human rights and technology.
RightsCon is convened by AccessNow and for the first time is being hosted in Southern Africa. This year's event includes 550 sessions taking place in multiple formats across 18 topic categories, with participants from over 150 countries participating in-person and online.
APC’s participation in RightsCon26 will prioritise the following themes:
- Securing access to the internet in contexts of crises and conflicts
- Building collaborative responses to online attacks on environmental defenders
- Holistic feminist protection for women human rights defenders
- Strengthening civil society collaboration on the implementation of WSIS+20 outcomes
- Feminist activism against the systemic roots of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV): Building together a path forward.
We look forward to connecting and engaging with members and partners around the geopolitical and technological changes impacting our work and communities and strategise paths forward built on solidarity. Alongside official sessions, we will be planning side events and meet-ups to maximise our time together and build moment on our work around TFGBV, disinformation, digital threats and repression, and internet governance in the context of conflict and crises. We will also have an APC Booth on 7 May, which is always a dynamic meeting point for our network.
To participate, be sure to register for RightsCon26 via the online portal, which includes detailed information on the sessions and schedule.
In order to facilitate network engagement at the event, we have prepared a list of sessions where APC staff, members and partners will be participating. The modality (in-person or online) is indicated for each session as well as the local time (for those attending in-person) and UTC time (for those participating remotely).
This list will continue to be updated as new information arrives, so keep an eye on it for more details!
EVENTS AND SESSIONS WHERE YOU WILL FIND APC STAFF, MEMBERS AND PARTNERS
Day 0 – Tuesday, 5 May
Civil society strategy meeting around the implementation of the WSIS and the GDC
9:00 – 17:00 local time | 7:00 – 15:00 UTC | In-person, by invitation only
APC hosting
Feminist activism against the systemic roots of TFGBV: Building a path forward together
9:00 – 15:00 local time | 7:00 – 13:00 UTC | In-person (Room 2)
APC hosting
Digital rights workshop
10:15 – 15:00 local time | 7:00 – 13:00 UTC | In-person (Room 3)
APC speaking
WSIS+20 Outcomes: What role does civil society play in pursuing inclusive, rights-respecting and democratic implementation?
11:00 - 15:00 local time | 9:00 - 13:00 UTC | In-person (private event)
APC and APC partner IT for Change co-hosting
Day 1 – Wednesday, 6 May
Stories from the ground: Building a practical guide on holistic feminist protection for women defenders
9:00 – 10:00 local time | 7:00 – 9:00 UTC | In-person (Room A1)
APC (Safety for Voices consortium) co-hosting
Cybersecurity with Chinese characteristics: From exporting authoritarian norms to civil society resilience
9:00 – 10:00 local time | 7:00 – 9:00 UTC | In-person (Room A110)
APC partner ARTICLE 19 and member Open Culture Foundation co-hosting
Funding feminist futures: Co-creating a roadmap for tech justice
11:30 - 12:30 local time | 9:30 - 10:30 UTC | In-person (Room 4)
APC member Pollicy hosting, APC member Pollicy and APC associate jac sm kee speaking
Human-centric connectivity: Multistakeholder strategies for last mile inclusion
12:45 – 13:45 local time | 10:45 – 11:45 UTC | In-person (Room A105)
APC speaking
Unraveling digital extractivism: territorial resistance in Latin America
12:45 – 13:45 local time | 10:45 – 11:45 UTC | In-person (Room A110)
APC member Sursiendo hosting and speaking
The business of disinformation: How propaganda profits and platforms enable it
12:45 – 13:45 local time | 10:45 – 11:45 UTC | In-person (Room 5)
APC member Myanmar Internet Project co-hosting and speaking
Day 2 – Thursday, 7 May
APC Booth
9:00 – 17:30 local time | 7:00 – 15:30 UTC | In-person
Come join us at the Community Village for great activities throughout the day and connect with the rest of the APC network!
Visit the APC booth between 14:00 and 16:00 (local time) to take part in our "Vent Tent" session. The Vent Tent session will be collecting vox pops and written reflections on how the RightsCon26 gathering has prioritised issues of gender and sexuality, disability, climate crisis and other important and often overlooked human rights concerns as they impact and affect digital rights.
APC hosting
Online violence, offline consequences: Lessons of resistance from LGBTQ+ communities in Ethiopia
9:00 – 10:00 local time | 7:00 – 8:00 UTC | In-person (AG05)
APC (Feminist Internet Research Network) co-hosting
When the net goes dark: How shutdowns undermine democracy in Africa
9:00 – 10:00 local time | 7:00 – 8:00 UTC | In-person (AG09)
APC member Zaina Foundation hosting and speaking, APC member WOUGNET speaking
Lessons from Gaza: Business and human rights in the age of weaponised technologies
9:00 – 10:00 local time | 7:00 – 8:00 UTC | In-person (AG01)
APC member 7amleh hosting, APC member 7amleh and APC associate Gayatri Khandhadai speaking
Whose knowledge counts? Fighting access gaps on Wikipedia in Africa
11:30 – 12:30 local time | 9:30 – 10:30 UTC | In-person (Room 3)
APC speaking
Designing responsible AI infrastructure in the Global South: who really pays the price?
11:30 – 12:30 local time | 9:30 – 10:30 UTC | In-person (Location TBC)
APC member Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) hosting and speaking, APC speaking
Which animal are you? Take a quiz, learn more
14:00 - 15:00 local time | 12:00 - 13:00 UTC | In-person (Room 4)
APC member Body & Data hosting
Beyond the frame: Dreaming up better future responses to online violence
15:15 - 16:15 local time | 13:15 - 14:15 UTC | In-person (Banquet 3)
APC member Point of View hosting
Day 3 – Friday, 8 May
Shaping digital futures: Capacity building for community-led digital initiatives
10:15 – 11:15 local time | 8:15 – 10:15 UTC | In-person (Room 5)
APC and APC members Rhizomatica co-hosting
Solidarity in action: Building collaborative responses to online attacks on environmental defenders
11:30 - 12:30 local time | 9:30 - 10:30 UTC | In-person (private meeting)
APC (Resistance & Resilience) hosting
Coded harm: Unpacking AI and tech-facilitated gender-based violence
10:15 – 11:15 local time | 8:15 – 10:15 UTC | In-person (Room 3)
APC partner CREA hosting speaking
Protecting core internet functions in situations of conflict: A human rights-based multistakeholder approach
14:00 - 15:00 local time | 12:00 - 14:00 UTC | Hybrid (Room A102 online)
APC and APC member 7amleh co-hosting, APC speaking
This list will continue to be updated as we get updates from APC's community, so keep an eye on it for more details!