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RightsCon, the world’s largest digital rights conference, was canceled this year due to pressure from the Chinese government, according to the nonprofit that organizes the annual event.
In a wordsAccess Now reports that “it was reported that the ambassadors of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) are putting pressure on the Zambian Government because the participants in the Taiwanese community are planning to meet us in person.”
The Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, and the United States Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. When WIRED called the Zambian embassy in Washington, a staff member answered the call and transferred the call to another employee who spoke for a few seconds before hanging up. A follow-up call went unanswered.
Access Now said it had been told “informally from multiple sources” that “in order for RightsCon to continue, we need to monitor specific topics and exclude vulnerable communities, including Taiwan participants, from participating in person and online.”
RightsCon 2026 is set to feature a number of panels on China’s influence, including Beijing’s deployment of digital powers and disinformation in regions like Africa, as well as discussions on China’s criminal activities and the global spread of its surveillance and surveillance technology.
Arzu Geybulla, executive director of Access Now, tells WIRED that “a lot of information we received indicates that foreign interference in the People’s Republic of China contributed to the sudden disruption of RightsCon 2026.”
One week before the conference was to be held in Lusaka, Zambia, the Zambian government suddenly announced that it would be postponed until an unspecified date. In a words On April 28, the country’s minister of technology and science, Mr. Felix Mutati, said that some “speakers and participants must wait for regulatory and security clearance. The next day, Mr. Thabo Kawana, the minister of information and communication in Zambia added that “the delay was due to the need to disclose in detail the main points that are planned to be discussed at the Conference.”
On April 27, just two days before the Zambian government’s announcement, Access Now “learned that the People’s Republic of China’s government had attracted the attention of the People’s Republic of China’s government because of Taiwanese participation.” “Apparently, the Chinese government was trying to influence the Zambian government’s approach against the Taiwanese group to cross their border,” said Geybulla. “Soon, the Zambian government publicly cited ‘slavery policies’ and ‘expected administrative and security clearances’ for participants as reasons for disrupting RightsCon.”
The non-profit organization Open Culture Foundation in Taiwan, which is due to attend RightsCon this year, has been warned by Access Now that Taiwanese citizens may have difficulty entering Zambia due to concerns raised by the Chinese embassy. They were told to put their travel plans on hold while the host coordinated with the Zambian authorities.
Nikki Gladstone, who is the director of RightsCon at Access Now, confirmed to WIRED that the organization has been in contact with the Taiwanese people about the possible problems with the trip to Zambia. “Given the challenges that may arise in the region, many of which are due to start moving soon, we felt it was our responsibility to inform the stakeholders in Taiwan of this development when we needed more information and information,” says Gladstone. “We said we would be holding off on recommending travel until we had more clarity.”
A human rights activist, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told WIRED that after RightsCon was officially suspended, he was told by one of their aides that the Chinese government had been pressuring the Zambian government for several days over the presence of Taiwanese delegates at the conference.
