RightsCon, the world’s largest digital human rights conference, was forced to cancel its 2026 conference just days before it was to convene in the Zambian capital of Lusaka, reportedly due to Chinese pressure on the Zambian government. A leading summit on human rights and technology held annually since 2011 in various countries and organized by the advocacy group Access Now, RightsCon had anticipated about 2,600 attendees from more than 750 organizations, including NGOs, human rights organizations, and some of the world’s largest tech companies. Its sudden cancellation heightens concerns about transnational pressure on tech activism, free speech, and digital rights in the Global South and beyond.
A statement issued on May 1 by the RightsCon and AccessNow teams explains why they “believe foreign interference [by China] is the reason RightsCon 2026 won’t proceed in Zambia or online”:
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.
[…O]n 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.
[…] 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.
[…] 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. [Source]
At Wired, Vittoria Elliott and Zeyi Yang reported on some of the conference’s planned panels and participants, and on the chain of events that led to “the Chinese government [getting] the world’s largest digital rights conference canceled”:
RightsCon 2026 was set to feature several panels on China’s international influence, including about how Beijing exports digital authoritarianism and spreads disinformation in regions like Africa, as well as discussions on Chinese cyberattacks and the global spread of its censorship and surveillance technologies.
[…] On April 27, […] Access Now “became aware that the in-person participation of people from Taiwan had caught the attention of the Government of the People’s Republic of China. In turn, Chinese authorities were, apparently, trying to influence the Zambian government’s approach to Taiwanese participants’ movement across the border,” says [Arzu Geybulla, the co-executive director of Access Now]. “Soon after, the Zambian government publicly referred to ‘diplomatic protocols’ and ‘pending administrative and security clearances’ of participants as reasons for their disrupting RightsCon.”
Open Culture Foundation, a Taiwanese nonprofit organization that was scheduled to attend RightsCon this year, says that it was warned by Access Now that Taiwanese citizens may have problems entering Zambia due to possible concerns from the Chinese Embassy. They were told to pause their travel plans while the host coordinated with Zambian officials.
[…] An employee of another human rights organization, who asked not to be named for security reasons, tells WIRED that after RightsCon was officially postponed, they were told by one of their grant funders that the Chinese government had been pressuring the Zambian government for days over the presence of a Taiwanese delegation at the conference. [Source]
A piece from Human Rights Watch on the cancellation featured reactions from researchers, civil society groups, and activists in the fields of human rights and digital rights:
“The Zambia government’s flimsy reasons for postponing RightsCon suggest that the government wanted to control the summit’s human rights agenda,” said Idriss Ali Nassah, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should fully explain the last-minute cancellation, which is a serious loss for the promotion of human rights.”
Civil society groups have criticized the action. A statement by the Net Rights Coalition and more than 130 digital rights stakeholders said that the postponement and effective cancellation of the event raises concerns about closing the civic space in Zambia.
[…] “By shutting down RightsCon, the Zambian government is shutting down discussions and opportunities to strategize and connect on some of the most crucial human rights issues of our time,” said Deborah Brown, technology and rights deputy director at Human Rights Watch. “It’s a terrible blow to the digital rights movement in Zambia and globally.”
[…] A civil society activist involved in the RightsCon organizing committee in Lusaka told Human Rights Watch that the postponement came after the Chinese government had expressed displeasure to Zambian authorities about invited participants from Taiwan. A Zambian media outlet similarly reported that Zambian authorities were uncomfortable with the participation of “Taiwanese delegates who would potentially speak against China at a venue donated by the Chinese government.”
The Mulungushi Conference Center, which was to host the summit, was refurbished in 2020 with funding from the Chinese government at a reported cost of US$60 million. Zambian authorities at the time described the support as a “gift from […] China” with “no strings attached.” [Source]
Article 19’s Michael Caster discussed the cancelation and its implications at TechPolicy.press:
Precisely because China’s attack on RightsCon stems from its attempt to block Taiwanese participation, global civil society should redouble efforts at engagement and empowerment of Taiwanese civil society through inclusion at global gatherings. Like-minded governments should furthermore ensure diplomatic support. This is as much about demonstrating solidarity with Taiwan as it is about acknowledging Taiwanese civil society has a unique contribution to make with its experience identifying and responding to distinct information and digital threats from China.
China was able to exert pressure on Zambia to take this unprecedented step toward canceling a major international conference in part because China’s influence on the continent has expanded in the absence of adequate rights-based alternatives. Contesting China’s adverse influence in Africa, and around the world, cannot rest merely on criticizing its assault on human rights but must also come with positive and accessible rights-based solutions to real digital development needs. The world’s remaining liberal democracies must expand their efforts to meet the moment, or risk ceding more of the globe to Chinese-style authoritarianism.
And because China’s assault on RightsCon is further emblematic of its broader efforts to influence global digital norms-setting, responding to this incident additionally demands that like-minded governments reiterate their support for multistakeholderism. It calls for redoubling political and diplomatic commitments to human rights-based governance and safeguards, especially in emerging technologies. [Source]
As noted above, the Zambian government has received funding and assistance from the Chinese government in the past. Only a week before the RightsCon cancellation, China inked an agreement with Zambia to provide grant funding for a number of cooperative projects. “The signing of this agreement is an important manifestation of China’s sincere support for the Zambian people,” said Han Jing, China’s Ambassador to Zambia, during a signing ceremony held with Zambian Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane. Several days earlier, Taiwan reported that Beijing had intervened to prevent Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te from visiting the southern African nation of Eswatini, the only African nation that maintains formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. As reported by Gerald Imray of the Associated Press, “Lai’s trip was called off after the Indian Ocean islands of Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles were pressured by China to withdraw permission for Lai’s plane to fly over their territory.”
CDT has covered many past incidents of transnational repression and pressure campaigns by China, including the increasing use of government-backed “puppet NGOs” to monitor and intimidate human-rights activists critical of the Chinese government from testifying at the United Nations; the forced closure of the IndieChina film festival in New York City in 2025; the censorship of parts of an exhibition critical of “the global machinery of authoritarian solidarity” at a prominent art gallery in Bangkok, Thailand in 2025; a long-running campaign to pressure French museums into erasing and Sinicizing Tibetan culture; and other cases such as the forced deportation of Uyghurs from Thailand, and targeting Chinese students overseas for their speech or activism.
