RightsCon 2026 in Zambia Cancelled Under Pressure from China

RightsCon 2026, the world's largest digital human rights conference, was cancelled in Zambia days before it was scheduled to begin, allegedly due to Chinese pressure on the Zambian government. Access Now, the organizing group, was told to moderate specific topics and exclude Taiwanese participants, conditions they deemed unacceptable and contrary to their mission. The cancellation highlights concerns about transnational repression and shrinking spaces for civil society activism in the Global South.