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COMMUNITY PROJECT RightsCon 2025 @ Taipei

What's RightsCon

Not only is RightsCon 2025 being held in East Asia for the first time, but it has also chosen Taipei (臺北) as its hub. It is expected that approximately 3,000 experts from industry, government, and academia, representing 150 countries, will visit Taiwan in person, featuring over 500 sessions across 18 tracks to discuss topics such as artificial intelligence, digital governance, open-source applications in civic advocacy, and resistance to digital oppression. It is an excellent opportunity for Taiwan’s open-source technology community and human rights organizations to get involved global digital rights issues!

  • Date: 2025/2/24 (Mon) - 2025/2/27 (Thu) UTC+8
  • Location: Taipei International Convention Center (TICC) (台北國際會議中心)
  • Participation: Hybrid (Online and Onsite)
  • Main Language: English (with some sessions offering real-time Mandarin interpretation)
  • Official Website: https://www.rightscon.org

OCF at RightsCon

[Workshop, Panel] Internet Freedom Workshop: Tor、Tails、OONI

We are thrilled to invite you to a full-day event dedicated to online privacy, censorship circumvention, and censorship monitoring, hosted in partnership with Open Culture Foundation, the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), and The Tor Project on February 23rd, 2025, in Taipei, Taiwan. (UTC+8)

This free pre-event will feature hands-on workshops and a public keynote by Roger Dingledine, co-founder of The Tor Project.

The event will feature:

  • Two hands-on workshops for journalists, activists, and human rights defenders focused on digital security and censorship resistance.
  • A public keynote by Roger Dingledine, co-founder of The Tor Project, on defending online privacy in an era of mass surveillance.

Mutual Support: Amplifying the Voices of Digital Rights Defenders in Taiwan and East Asia

✔ Open Parliament ✔ Digital Identity and Privacy Autonomy ✔ Digital Gender Violence Issues

This event aims to present Taiwan and East Asia’s digital rights landscape, highlighting current challenges faced by digital rights defenders and fostering resonance with participants' experiences.

Organized by the Open Culture Foundation in collaboration with local partners - Odditysay Labs, Citizen Congress Watch and FLAME. This event is open to all RightsCon participants, a half-day series of events will be co-created, to be held on Monday, February 24, from 09:00 to 12:30. (UTC+8)

* All RightsCon attendees are welcome to participate. If you are already planning to attend RightsCon, please register: https://forms.gle/DG54v47vjXUnFBCWA

It will begin with an overview of Taiwan’s digital human rights landscape, setting the stage for in-depth discussions across three key subtopics:

  • Privacy protection and digital self-sovereignty

    Decentralizing Trust: the Challenges of Implementing Self-Sovereign Identity

  • Open data and parliamentary transparency

    Parliamentary Transparency and Public Accountability: A Cross-National Dialogue and Action Workshop

  • Platform governance and combating digital gender-based violence

    What have we learnt from combating gender-based violence in Taiwan.

OCF's Session in RightsCon

Citizens for Citizens: Digital Security Support in Taiwan from Individual to Regional Project

Dialogue (In-Person)

February 26, 14:00–15:00 (UTC+8)

Room 101C

Weichem Lim/Open Culture Foundation
Toomore Chiang/Open Culture Foundation
Pellaeon Lin/Citizen Lab
Li-Yi Shao/TechSoup Global
Ddio Chuang

Human rights defenders in East Asia face growing digital threats, increasing the demand for security support. How can we engage more tech-savvy talents in this work? Using Taiwan as a case study, this dialogue brings together four citizen representatives to explore solutions. An April 2024 report by the Open Culture Foundation (Open Culture Foundation) found that half of 35 surveyed human rights groups faced data leaks, hacking, or platform shutdowns, often from authoritarian actors. With limited technical skills and manpower, many rely on volunteers.

Despite strong citizen support, sustaining long-term resources remains a challenge. This session gathers regional and local representatives to discuss challenges, opportunities, and the resources needed. It features two segments: first, speakers share their experiences; and second, an interactive discussion opens with key questions, encouraging both global and local participants to explore ways to involve citizens in digital security efforts.

OCF x Taiwan Civil Society Joint Booth

TBC

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Collection of Side Events in Taipei

華語版本

Side events before Feb 24 Side events after Feb 24 (include Feb 24)
Side Event Schedule (Event details subject to each organizer)
Date Time (UTC+8) Event Organizer Contact
2025/2/18 14:20 - 15:00 Trial Monitoring: Taiwan National Household data leak cases at Taipei High Administrative Court
Event Link
g0v jothon-organizers〈AT〉g0v.tw
2025/2/20 19:30 - 21:30 Internet Freedom Meetup – Discussion on Digital Service Regulation
Registration
Open Culture Foundation hi〈AT〉ocf.tw
2025/2/21 10:00 - 11:00 Internet Governance: Its Past and Future in the Age of Trump 2.0
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Jeanette Hofmann
College of Social Sciences, National Taiwan University
TWIGF Facebook Post
2025/2/21 14:00 - 18:00 Taiwan-Germany Digital Human Rights Watch: Multilateral Dialogue on Government Surveillance and Platform Regulation FNF / IIAS / GFF / NTU Public Law Center yawei.Chou〈AT〉freiheit.org
2025/2/22 09:30 - 17:00 Bi-monthly hackathon hosted by the g0v community.
What is a g0v hackathon?
Signup
g0v jothon-organizers〈AT〉g0v.tw
2025/2/22 15:30 - 17:30 Report release: The Expansion of PRC Cybersecurity Norms: Implications for the Indo-Pacific and the Taiwanese Alternative
Registration
Article 19 wilbourne〈AT〉article19.org
2025/2/23 14:00 - 17:30
18:00 - 19:00
19:30 - 21:30
Online privacy, censorship circumvention, and censorship monitoring workshop and keynote by Roger Dingledine
English | zh-TW
OONI & Tor/Tails toomore〈AT〉ocf.tw
2025/2/23 15:00 - 18:00 Building Resilient Connections: A Hands-on Local Network Workshop
Community networks are transforming how underserved communities access and steward internet infrastructure, safeguarding their privacy, autonomy, and digital sovereignty.

Taipei Tech University
Registration
dWeb & g0v DigiResiThon cheng〈AT〉ocf.tw
2025/2/23 18:00 - Social Happy Hour Article 19 wilbourne〈AT〉article19.org

To post your event on to the table, please go to this link to upload(GitHub account required), we’ll update ASAP

Event details subject to each organizer, the table here is for reference only.

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Side events before Feb 24 Side events after Feb 24 (include Feb 24)
Side Event Schedule (Event details subject to each organizer)
Date Time (UTC+8) Event Organizer Contact
2025/2/24 09:00 - 11:15 Digital Human Rights and Data Protection: Shaping Taiwan’s Future Policies
Room: 201A
All participants also need to register separately for RightsCon in order to attend.
Registration
Department of Human Rights and Transitional Justice Executive Yuan | Preparatory Office of the Personal Data Protection Commission
in collaboration with the National Institute of Cyber Security
-
2025/2/24 09:00 - 12:30 RightsCon Satellite event: Mutual Support – Amplifying the Voices of Digital Rights Defenders in Taiwan and East Asia
Registration
Open Culture Foundation hi〈AT〉ocf.tw
2025/2/24 09:00 - 15:00 RightsCon Satellite Event: SplinterCon
Event Link
eQualitie Contact
2025/2/24 09:00 - 15:00 Taiwan Business & Human Rights Forum
This session will be hosted with interpretation.
RSVP
Rights CoLab | Environmental Rights Foundation, Taiwan Transnational Corporations Watch -
2025/2/24 09:30 - 11:00 AI on the Open Web: Policy, Rights, and Responsibilities
This event will address the rapidly evolving landscape of AI development and its implications for Internet and web governance.
202B in the Taipei International Convention Center
DigitalMedusa farzaneh〈AT〉digitalmedusa.org
2025/2/24 10:00 - 12:30 Digital Human Rights International Workshop: Human Rights Defenders, Digital Privacy and AI & Human Rights
Grand Hyatt Taipei — The Residence
Registration
The National Human Rights Commission of Taiwan (NHRC Taiwan) and the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHRP) -
2025/2/24 12:45 - 15:00 Taiwan’s Digital Security Pillars: Semiconductor, Information, and Cyber Infrastructure
Room: 201 A
All participants also need to register separately for RightsCon in order to attend.
Registration
The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET) -
2025/2/24 13:00 - 15:00 Ask Me Anything with Signal president Meredith Whittaker
In-person only – Signal president will provide an overview on privacy, human rights, and tech strategy, followed by a Q&A session.
101C in the Taipei International Convention Center
Signal -
2025/2/25 18:00 - 20:00 Connections Across the Globe: Networking Party
Join the Asia Democracy Network for a networking party with light refreshments.
RSVP
Asia Democracy Network -
2025/2/25 18:00 - 20:30 Shaping the Future of Digital Rights
event details
RSVP, (please select "RightsCon VIP" and add "OCF" on "Corporations" part to get VIP free ticket)
Numbers Protocol,Content Authenticity Initiative(CAI) sofia〈AT〉numbersprotocol.io
2025/2/25 19:00 - 21:30 SD Drinks: Service Design X Digital Human Rights
Explore human rights issues through the lens of design. Topics include: how to balance user experience and digital security, UX dark patterns that mislead or manipulate user behavior, how to bake particular security and privacy threats for different groups of people into service/UX design processes, designing for digital identity programs in Taiwan, and more.
RSVP
SD Drinks Taipei Slack Channel
2025/2/26 19:00 - 20:30 Global Book Launch: 《YOU MUST TAKE PART IN REVOLUTION!!》

Registration
DOUBLETHINK LAB / KUMA ACADEMY  
2025/2/26 Evening (TBC) Chill-vibe gathering for digital rights activists and tech talents
registration details coming soon.
OCF, APC & eQualitie szuhui.h〈AT〉ocf.tw; liyhs〈AT〉ocf.tw
2025/2/27 18:30 - 21:30 READr Mesh
A blockchain-based social platform for news where users support content creators via a community-driven ecosystem.
Location: Placebo Taipei – No. 83, Section 2, Keelung Rd, Xinyi District, Taipei 110 (Check-in starts at 18:30)
Readr azoezoe〈AT〉mirrormedia.mg
2025/2/28 13:30 - 16:30 Unconference
Join an open-format session organized by g0v.
Location
g0v jothon-organizers〈AT〉g0v.tw
2025/2/28 13:30 - 16:00 g0v Meetup / Unconference
Event link
g0v Jothon task force jothon-organizers〈AT〉g0v.tw
2025/2/22 - 3/16 12:00 - 19:00 Immersive Exhibition on Digital Gender-Based Violence
Art Project “They told me it's not your fault. And I told them everything will be fine”
Event Link
Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit (FNF) yawei.Chou〈AT〉freiheit.org

To post your event on to the table, please go to this link to upload(GitHub account required), we’ll update ASAP

Event details subject to each organizer, the table here is for reference only.

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Taiwan-Related Sessions in RightsCon

華語版本

February 25 February 26 February 27
February 25 - Taiwan-Related Sessions
Submitter/Speakers Session Title Format Time (UTC+8) Venue
g0v intl / Facing the Ocean Hackathon Network 5 Years Facing the Ocean: Advancing rights to Information, gender equality, and youth engagement in East‑Asia Dialogue (in-person) 9:00–10:00 101C
蔡志宏 (主持人); 余若凡, 周冠汝, 陳逸玲, 莫乃光 (與談人) Protecting the Public from Cybercrime: A Multistakeholder Model Approach Dialogue (in-person) 10:15–11:15 101B
TW Presidential Office and National Security Council Taiwan Briefing: Insights, Digital Resilience, and Lessons from PRC Tactics Dialogue (in-person) 10:15–11:15 201D
Beyond a TikTok Ban: A rights-based approach to regulating platforms from authoritarian countries Dialogue (in-person) 10:15–11:15 401
Freedom House_TW office Resisting Repressive Regulations: CSO Strategies From Across the Indo‑Pacific Workshop (in-person) 11:30–12:30 201D
Freedom House & Regional Partners 當政府利用法律手段壓制人民的數位人權,公民社會該如何回應? – LESSONS LEARNED FROM INDO-PACIFIC CIVIL SOCIETY: Case Studies in CSO Efforts to Influence Online Regulations Workshop (in-person) 11:30–12:30 201D
Cofacts Crowd‑sourced fact‑checking in AI era – Lessons learned by Cofacts Tech demo (in person) 14:00–15:00 South lobby
Freedom House_TW office Dissenting behind China’s great firewall Dialogue (in-person) 15:15–16:15 201A
Amnesty International Taiwan Taiwan's Next Step: How To End Online Discrimination And Hate Speech Without Compromising Civic Space? Roundtable (hybrid) 15:15-16:15 201F
FLAME / DDP/ Activist from India and Taiwan Re-thinking digital security training from a feminist perspective and victims’ experiences. Workshop (in-person) 16:30–17:30 201D

To post your event on to the table, please go to this link to upload(GitHub account required), we’ll update ASAP

Event details subject to the RightsCon website.

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February 25 February 26 February 27
February 26 - Taiwan-Related Sessions
Submitter/Speakers Session Title Format Time (UTC+8) Venue
Asia Citizen Future Association (ACFA) Empowering Southeast Asian Women and LGBTI Defenders: Tackling Gendered Digital Violence at the Regional Level Roundtable (in-person) 9:00–10:00 202B
Taiwan Equality Campaign / Cofacts / Citizen Congress Watch How to Achieve Diverse Democracy for LGBTI+ in the Digital Age Roundtable (hybrid) 12:45–13:45 202A (Mandarin)
Open Culture Foundation Citizens for Citizens: Digital security supports in Taiwan from individual to regional projects. Dialogue (in-person) 14:00–15:00 101C
MG Lee/g0v CongressThon/watchout.tw/OpenFun/TOPEP Building a Decentralized Movement for Parliament Transparency Dialogue (in-person) 14:00–15:00 102(simultaneous translation between ENG and Mandarin)
Initiative for Enhancing Self-Sovereign Identity as Digital Civic Infrastructure in Taiwan Dialogue (in-person) 14:00–15:00 South lobby
IORG / National Chung Cheng University Safeguarding the right to authentic online discourse: Detecting authoritarian propaganda on TikTok Lightning Talk (in-person) 15:15–16:15 South lobby (Mandarin)

To post your event on to the table, please go to this link to upload(GitHub account required), we’ll update ASAP

Event details subject to the RightsCon website.

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February 25 February 26 February 27
February 27 - Taiwan-Related Sessions
Submitter/Speakers Session Title Format Time (UTC+8) Venue
Amnesty International (East, South East Asia, and the Pacific Regional Office) Empowering Southeast Asian Women and LGBTI Defenders: Tackling Gendered Digital Violence at the Regional Level 11:30–12:30 101C
Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit (FNF) Gender-Based Misinformation Targeting Politicians and Leaders: A Neglected Risk to Democracy Dialogue 12:45–13:45 201A
Weiping Li Global Giants, Local Influence: The Role of International Social Media in Shaping National Discourse Dialogue 12:45–1:45 pm -
Kenny Huang, Yachi Chiang, Charles Mok Taiwan's Digital Lifeline: The Resilience and Security of Its Undersea Cable Infrastructure Dialogue (in-person) 12:45–13:45 101C
Leveraging technology to enhance civic participation, and monitoring of international aid
"The Civic-tech Experimental Field in Taiwan: the potential, value and limit of digital civic participation"
Dialogue (in-person) 12:45–13:45 South lobby
Taiwan Association for Human Rights Bypass Consent: Loopholes Make us Lose Control of Health, Location Data, and Even More. Roundtable (in-person) 14:00–15:00 401
Critical digital infrastructures: Public code, and data security in health and migration contexts
Public Code as a Critical Digital Infrastructure: Achiventing Software Openness and Interoperability Among Governments
Dialogue (in-person) 14:00–15:00 South lobby
Tainan Sprout Tainan City Council AI Chatbot: Using AI to Lower Barriers of Civic Engagement Tech Demo 19:00–20:00 Online

To post your event on to the table, please go to this link to upload(GitHub account required), we’ll update ASAP

Event details subject to the RightsCon website.

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To Be Determined

TBD Sessions (Event details subject to the conference official website)
Independent Global counter surveillance Panel Discussion TBD

Event details subject to the RightsCon website.

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