Human rights in the digital age: Why you should join us at RightsCon

Pack your (digital) bags folks because the biggest forum on digital rights is hitting a town (screen) near you! RightsCon registration closes on June 3, so make sure you register before the cut-off date. 

Welcome to RightsCon 2022

RightsCon will be swinging onto your screens next week — and we wanted to take a minute to unpack what RightsCon is, what's happening there, and why we recommend taking the time to watch a panel or two. 

Spanning multiple times zones, RightsCon is an entirely online summit on human rights in the digital age, featuring over 350 panels, keynotes, creative events, exhibits, and lectures hosted by some of leading voices from the tech industry, civil society, and members of the internet community.

In other words, if you care about digital rights (like privacy the right to encryption, anonymity and control over identity, and anti-surveillance) — you don't wanna miss this.

What's in it for you

If it wasn't already clear, we're pretty big advocates for this event — and for a good reason.

As an open platform, RightsCon gives lots of people access to some super important discussions and insights into the future of the internet and technology. Events like RightsCon help facilitate the free flow of ideas through our global community — and that's what Session is all about.

Basically, the world's leading experts will be breaking everything down from everything from the big issues down to hyper-specific, local case studies — whether it be how AI technology might influence big things like worker's rights or small things like the phone in your pocket.

This convention has something for everyone — whether you're a technical whiz who wants to discuss protocols and new technologies, a business mind who wants to discuss how business models shape tech (and our lives), or a humanitarian who wants to focus on the people using and creating modern tech. And if something you want to catch isn't in your time zone — there's a good chance it will be recorded with playback functionality. If you're still not convinced, the OPTF's very own Sam de Silva will be a panellist on Wednesday afternoon's "Unpacking the state of digital safety and internet freedom in the Asia Pacific region" session. 

Not saying that you have to watch that specific Wednesday 2:30pm AEDT panel (you totally should) but as an organisation built on the principals of privacy advocacy — we're pretty keen on sharing an event designed to do a little eye opening.  So pop on those privacy caps and settle in with some popcorn, we highly recommend it. 

RightsCon will be running from June 6-10, 2022