A statement to our community about why RightsCon 2026 will not take place in Zambia
May 1, 2026 • Event info • 7 min read
A statement to our community about why RightsCon 2026 will not take place in Zambia
May 1, 2026 • Event Info • 7 min read
RightsCon team
Access Now team
To our community,
We are devastated to be writing to you instead of gathering together as planned and we know we’re not alone. The frustration and disappointment stemming from the loss of RightsCon 2026 is felt deeply by all of us, especially our partners in the region who worked tirelessly alongside our team.
Following our April 29 announcement, we at Access Now, the host organization of RightsCon, believe it is important to be transparent about the context that led to the decision. We want to explain, where we can (taking into account the safety of those involved), why this announcement was made on such short notice, only days before we were set to welcome more than 2,600 participants in person, and 1,100 online, representing over 150 countries and 750 institutions.
We believe foreign interference is the reason RightsCon 2026 won’t proceed in Zambia or online.
When we select a host location, we follow a rigorous, multi-year process — one we’ve strengthened through community consultations — that weighs the country’s geographic region, event infrastructure, security environment, visa accessibility, and importantly, the openness of local government stakeholders, who are, alongside civil society, among our most essential partners in ensuring the success of such a large convening.
Our decision to choose Zambia was not coincidental. In 2023, we made a commitment to bring RightsCon back to the African continent. Hosting RightsCon in Lusaka was not only about honoring that commitment, but also about recognizing the strength, resilience, and global significance of Africa’s digital rights community.
Our team first visited the country in 2024 and returned for two additional site visits before arriving on April 27, 2026 for RightsCon. We coordinated closely with Government of Zambia officials every step of the way: we publicly signed an MoU with the Ministry of Technology and Science (MoTS), our primary government partner, and received a separate, signed invitation for participants requiring visas. At the same time, we established working relationships with the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Information and Media (MIM), and the Department of Immigration. On the ground, we met with high-ranking officials to regularly report on progress and when we weren’t in Lusaka, we convened online meetings, continuously briefing them about the scope of the conference, the breadth of its program, and the diversity of its participants. We coordinated closely on our agreed process for facilitating eVisa applications, with no concerns about applicants raised.
On April 27, one day after a government press release endorsed RightsCon, we received a phone call from MoTS about an urgent issue and were told that diplomats from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) were putting pressure on the Government of Zambia because Taiwanese civil society participants were planning to join us in person. This development was extremely concerning and we immediately pushed back. Next, we opened up lines of communication with our Taiwanese participants, as is our practice when there is a potential risk for a specific community. While we needed more information, we continued to feel confident this was something we could address with the government.
Shortly after this call, we received reports of immigration officers telling participants as they arrived that RightsCon had been cancelled. These developments were taking place on the eve of a public holiday in Zambia and despite persistent outreach to our government contacts throughout the evening and next day, we heard nothing until an informal, cryptic call from a trusted senior official at MoTS, who told us on Tuesday, April 28 that he had been asked to share that RightsCon would be cancelled or postponed. He faltered on where the decision was coming from or why. We pressed for clarification and pushed back, prompting the MoTS official to request our program and participant list. Once again, we shared publicly available information, which they had been given in prior meetings, but received no further response – informal or otherwise.
At 9:33pm Lusaka time, on April 28, a national public holiday, local state-owned media announced that the government had “postponed” RightsCon. Our team was shocked: despite an established partnership and previously open lines of communication, a decision was made by the government without consultation or formal notice. We had no prior knowledge of the publication of the news article, nor any opportunity to comment.
It is simply impossible to postpone an event the size and scale of RightsCon a week before it is set to start. The summit requires more than a year of planning and preparation to host thousands of people and curate a program of more than 500 sessions.
We immediately convened a crisis response group and alerted our local and foreign partners in the country with the goal of reversing the decision. We published a notice on the RightsCon website and formally requested an urgent meeting with both the Minister and Permanent Secretary of MoTS, all while the international community sought information and advocated on our behalf. On April 29, we were asked to go to the Ministry for a meeting at 11:30am. It was delayed and never rescheduled. We went anyway, and delivered a letter by hand urgently requesting an in-person meeting. During this time, we initially heard through informal and reliable channels that positive news was coming. Hours passed with no updates. We followed up again, yet still nothing. Then came a further statement from MIM reinforcing the postponement. Still, no meeting, no formal notice, and no effort made to communicate areas of concern to us.
A few hours after the MIM’s statement, on April 29, we finally received a letter over WhatsApp from the MoTS. This was our first official, written communication from the Ministry. According to the letter, the postponement was “necessitated by the need for comprehensive disclosure of critical information relating to key thematic issues proposed for discussion,” which would be “essential to ensure full alignment with Zambia’s national values and broader public interest considerations.”
The statement, although seemingly an invitation to negotiate, still lacked any concrete information as to why the government decided to announce they were postponing RightsCon. What the government wanted from us in order to lift the postponement was conveyed to us informally from multiple sources: in order for RightsCon to continue, we would have to moderate specific topics and exclude communities at risk, including our Taiwanese participants, from in-person and online participation.
We invested months in building government relationships focused precisely on transparency and mutual understanding, including explicit conversations about the diversity of our community. If this foundation was somehow deemed insufficient, we are left to ask: why was that not communicated to us earlier, rather than only five days before our participants were due to arrive?
This was our red line. Not because we were unwilling to engage, but because the conditions set before us were unacceptable and counter to what RightsCon is and what Access Now stands for. The manner of the government’s communications process this week also raised serious questions as to the integrity, forthrightness, and value of any future engagement based on good faith.
We see this unilateral decision, and the way it was taken, as evidence of the far reach of transnational repression targeting civil society, and effectively shrinking the spaces in which we operate. At a time when this sector is already under immense financial and political strain, what we and our community forcefully experienced is unprecedented and existential.
As a human rights organization, we call out these violations of the fundamental freedoms of peaceful assembly and association, and interference with the freedom of expression and civic space of the entire RightsCon community. We are aware of our platform and privilege in being able to speak out about these offenses in ways many cannot, and we recognize the impact this outcome has and will continue to have on local and regional partners. We will continue to stand with you and support you.
We are disappointed that our international participants won’t get to experience the Zambia we have come to know through our planning for RightsCon. We are in awe and humbled by the outpouring of support and solidarity we have received. Thank you for standing by us and with us. Our commitment to the mission that has guided this organization and this movement for 15 years is stronger than ever. RightsCon may not happen in Zambia, but we will come together again; how and where we do so will be informed by you, our community.
In solidarity,
The RightsCon and Access Now team
Please help us decide what comes next: take our survey.
Read the latest from RightsCon
To our community,
We are devastated to be writing to you instead of gathering together as planned and we know we’re not alone. The frustration and disappointment stemming from the loss of RightsCon 2026 is felt deeply by all of us, especially our partners in the region who worked tirelessly alongside our team.
Following our April 29 announcement, we at Access Now, the host organization of RightsCon, believe it is important to be transparent about the context that led to the decision. We want to explain, where we can (taking into account the safety of those involved), why this announcement was made on such short notice, only days before we were set to welcome more than 2,600 participants in person, and 1,100 online, representing over 150 countries and 750 institutions.
We believe foreign interference is the reason RightsCon 2026 won’t proceed in Zambia or online.
When we select a host location, we follow a rigorous, multi-year process — one we’ve strengthened through community consultations — that weighs the country’s geographic region, event infrastructure, security environment, visa accessibility, and importantly, the openness of local government stakeholders, who are, alongside civil society, among our most essential partners in ensuring the success of such a large convening.
Our decision to choose Zambia was not coincidental. In 2023, we made a commitment to bring RightsCon back to the African continent. Hosting RightsCon in Lusaka was not only about honoring that commitment, but also about recognizing the strength, resilience, and global significance of Africa’s digital rights community.
Our team first visited the country in 2024 and returned for two additional site visits before arriving on April 27, 2026 for RightsCon. We coordinated closely with Government of Zambia officials every step of the way: we publicly signed an MoU with the Ministry of Technology and Science (MoTS), our primary government partner, and received a separate, signed invitation for participants requiring visas. At the same time, we established working relationships with the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Information and Media (MIM), and the Department of Immigration. On the ground, we met with high-ranking officials to regularly report on progress and when we weren’t in Lusaka, we convened online meetings, continuously briefing them about the scope of the conference, the breadth of its program, and the diversity of its participants. We coordinated closely on our agreed process for facilitating eVisa applications, with no concerns about applicants raised.
On April 27, one day after a government press release endorsed RightsCon, we received a phone call from MoTS about an urgent issue and were told that diplomats from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) were putting pressure on the Government of Zambia because Taiwanese civil society participants were planning to join us in person. This development was extremely concerning and we immediately pushed back. Next, we opened up lines of communication with our Taiwanese participants, as is our practice when there is a potential risk for a specific community. While we needed more information, we continued to feel confident this was something we could address with the government.
Shortly after this call, we received reports of immigration officers telling participants as they arrived that RightsCon had been cancelled. These developments were taking place on the eve of a public holiday in Zambia and despite persistent outreach to our government contacts throughout the evening and next day, we heard nothing until an informal, cryptic call from a trusted senior official at MoTS, who told us on Tuesday, April 28 that he had been asked to share that RightsCon would be cancelled or postponed. He faltered on where the decision was coming from or why. We pressed for clarification and pushed back, prompting the MoTS official to request our program and participant list. Once again, we shared publicly available information, which they had been given in prior meetings, but received no further response – informal or otherwise.
At 9:33pm Lusaka time, on April 28, a national public holiday, local state-owned media announced that the government had “postponed” RightsCon. Our team was shocked: despite an established partnership and previously open lines of communication, a decision was made by the government without consultation or formal notice. We had no prior knowledge of the publication of the news article, nor any opportunity to comment.
It is simply impossible to postpone an event the size and scale of RightsCon a week before it is set to start. The summit requires more than a year of planning and preparation to host thousands of people and curate a program of more than 500 sessions.
We immediately convened a crisis response group and alerted our local and foreign partners in the country with the goal of reversing the decision. We published a notice on the RightsCon website and formally requested an urgent meeting with both the Minister and Permanent Secretary of MoTS, all while the international community sought information and advocated on our behalf. On April 29, we were asked to go to the Ministry for a meeting at 11:30am. It was delayed and never rescheduled. We went anyway, and delivered a letter by hand urgently requesting an in-person meeting. During this time, we initially heard through informal and reliable channels that positive news was coming. Hours passed with no updates. We followed up again, yet still nothing. Then came a further statement from MIM reinforcing the postponement. Still, no meeting, no formal notice, and no effort made to communicate areas of concern to us.
A few hours after the MIM’s statement, on April 29, we finally received a letter over WhatsApp from the MoTS. This was our first official, written communication from the Ministry. According to the letter, the postponement was “necessitated by the need for comprehensive disclosure of critical information relating to key thematic issues proposed for discussion,” which would be “essential to ensure full alignment with Zambia’s national values and broader public interest considerations.”
The statement, although seemingly an invitation to negotiate, still lacked any concrete information as to why the government decided to announce they were postponing RightsCon. What the government wanted from us in order to lift the postponement was conveyed to us informally from multiple sources: in order for RightsCon to continue, we would have to moderate specific topics and exclude communities at risk, including our Taiwanese participants, from in-person and online participation.
We invested months in building government relationships focused precisely on transparency and mutual understanding, including explicit conversations about the diversity of our community. If this foundation was somehow deemed insufficient, we are left to ask: why was that not communicated to us earlier, rather than only five days before our participants were due to arrive?
This was our red line. Not because we were unwilling to engage, but because the conditions set before us were unacceptable and counter to what RightsCon is and what Access Now stands for. The manner of the government’s communications process this week also raised serious questions as to the integrity, forthrightness, and value of any future engagement based on good faith.
We see this unilateral decision, and the way it was taken, as evidence of the far reach of transnational repression targeting civil society, and effectively shrinking the spaces in which we operate. At a time when this sector is already under immense financial and political strain, what we and our community forcefully experienced is unprecedented and existential.
As a human rights organization, we call out these violations of the fundamental freedoms of peaceful assembly and association, and interference with the freedom of expression and civic space of the entire RightsCon community. We are aware of our platform and privilege in being able to speak out about these offenses in ways many cannot, and we recognize the impact this outcome has and will continue to have on local and regional partners. We will continue to stand with you and support you.
We are disappointed that our international participants won’t get to experience the Zambia we have come to know through our planning for RightsCon. We are in awe and humbled by the outpouring of support and solidarity we have received. Thank you for standing by us and with us. Our commitment to the mission that has guided this organization and this movement for 15 years is stronger than ever. RightsCon may not happen in Zambia, but we will come together again; how and where we do so will be informed by you, our community.
In solidarity,
The RightsCon and Access Now team
Please help us decide what comes next: take our survey.