This is absolutely wild: The #Zambia government has just cancelled the world's most important digital rights conference #RightsCon 2026 which was supposed to start next week in #Lusaka.
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@ilumium What "key thematic issues proposed for discussion" in a civil society conference can possibly cause trouble to "broader public interest considerations"?? Did some #copyright lobbyist blackmail them?
@nemobis Recent @404mediaco reporting sounded as if someone in the gov got cold feet and/or didn't like a speaker or two. What a mess.
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This is absolutely wild: The #Zambia government has just cancelled the world's most important digital rights conference #RightsCon 2026 which was supposed to start next week in #Lusaka. 3,000+ participants are now hanging in limbo (myself included), some already traveled to the country.
I feel for the folks at #AccessNow who have been working so hard on this for months.
Ministry of Information and Media - Zambia
THE POSTPONEMENT OF THE RIGHTSCON 2026 SUMMIT
(www.facebook.com)
Now it's official: #RightsCon 2026 has been censored and cancelled by the government of #Zambia.
This is a loss for the global #DigitalRights community, a bigger one for #AccessNow, and maybe the biggest for #Zambia and the entire region, as future human rights events will think twice before setting foot there.
What a needless waste.
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R relay@relay.mycrowd.ca shared this topic
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This is absolutely wild: The #Zambia government has just cancelled the world's most important digital rights conference #RightsCon 2026 which was supposed to start next week in #Lusaka. 3,000+ participants are now hanging in limbo (myself included), some already traveled to the country.
I feel for the folks at #AccessNow who have been working so hard on this for months.
Ministry of Information and Media - Zambia
THE POSTPONEMENT OF THE RIGHTSCON 2026 SUMMIT
(www.facebook.com)
@ilumium what kind of a government rejects 3,000 travelers to their capital... a complete disaster, wow.... https://www.lusakatimes.com/2026/04/29/government-postpones-rightscon-2026-lusaka-summit/
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Now it's official: #RightsCon 2026 has been censored and cancelled by the government of #Zambia.
This is a loss for the global #DigitalRights community, a bigger one for #AccessNow, and maybe the biggest for #Zambia and the entire region, as future human rights events will think twice before setting foot there.
What a needless waste.
@ilumium just saw the news! It is quite a loss indeed
I feel so sorry for the access now team and the civil rights defenders.
And of course, I was so excited to talk about information integrity with the #RightsCon community
but that's a drop in the ocean of disappointment. -
@ilumium what kind of a government rejects 3,000 travelers to their capital... a complete disaster, wow.... https://www.lusakatimes.com/2026/04/29/government-postpones-rightscon-2026-lusaka-summit/
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Now it's official: #RightsCon 2026 has been censored and cancelled by the government of #Zambia.
This is a loss for the global #DigitalRights community, a bigger one for #AccessNow, and maybe the biggest for #Zambia and the entire region, as future human rights events will think twice before setting foot there.
What a needless waste.
@ilumium If Trump can do it ...
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@ilumium what kind of a government rejects 3,000 travelers to their capital... a complete disaster, wow.... https://www.lusakatimes.com/2026/04/29/government-postpones-rightscon-2026-lusaka-summit/
@benjaoming I'm sorry, have you seen what's happening in the US?
FCC orders early review of ABC’s broadcast licenses
The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday said it was calling for early renewal of ABC's licenses that allow its eight owned television stations to broadcast.
ABC News (abcnews.com)
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Now it's official: #RightsCon 2026 has been censored and cancelled by the government of #Zambia.
This is a loss for the global #DigitalRights community, a bigger one for #AccessNow, and maybe the biggest for #Zambia and the entire region, as future human rights events will think twice before setting foot there.
What a needless waste.
@ilumium I think the saddest part in all of this is that Trump has refused to subsidized AIDS meds for Zambia UNLESS the county gives the USA total access to Zambia's minerals.... so I get that a very special global digital community loses... but, fuck, BLACKMAIL??
Trump admin threatens to withhold HIV medication to Zambia unless demands are met
Zambia has received more than $6 billion in HIV/AIDS over the last two decades, according to the US Embassy in Zambia
The Independent (www.independent.co.uk)
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@guenther @benjaoming @ilumium "Key to those demands is the U.S. receiving more access to Zambia’s natural minerals, according to The New York Times." Keeping up the US tradition of big, vulgar resource grabs.
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Now it's official: #RightsCon 2026 has been censored and cancelled by the government of #Zambia.
This is a loss for the global #DigitalRights community, a bigger one for #AccessNow, and maybe the biggest for #Zambia and the entire region, as future human rights events will think twice before setting foot there.
What a needless waste.
TIL check the strings attached to the "donations" you receive:
"...However, well-placed sources have told News Diggers! that #RightsCon has actually been cancelled because the programme involves Taiwanese delegates who would potentially speak against #China at a venue donated by the Chinese government."
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@guenther @benjaoming @ilumium "Key to those demands is the U.S. receiving more access to Zambia’s natural minerals, according to The New York Times." Keeping up the US tradition of big, vulgar resource grabs.
@hwebb @guenther @benjaoming Looks like exceptionally this time it wasn't a Trump fuck-up:
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@ilumium
This communication doesn't give proper explanations about the reasons for this cancellation. It brings real grounds of suspicion seeing that the event was certainly prepared months ago.@nelfan Maybe this is the reason:
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R relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topic
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@hwebb @guenther @benjaoming Looks like exceptionally this time it wasn't a Trump fuck-up:
@ilumium @hwebb @guenther China and US with each their crazy colonial agenda&damage on Zambia.
Supposing that it was China's will/pressure to have the conference cancelled, we'd have to ask if the free conference venue is even worth the loss of such a big and prestigious event with a 5-days notice.
Seems fair if the push-back is against China and not Zambia in this case?
On that note, thought about this documentary about China in Zambia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_China_Met_Africa
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R relay@relay.publicsquare.global shared this topic
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This is absolutely wild: The #Zambia government has just cancelled the world's most important digital rights conference #RightsCon 2026 which was supposed to start next week in #Lusaka. 3,000+ participants are now hanging in limbo (myself included), some already traveled to the country.
I feel for the folks at #AccessNow who have been working so hard on this for months.
Ministry of Information and Media - Zambia
THE POSTPONEMENT OF THE RIGHTSCON 2026 SUMMIT
(www.facebook.com)
@ilumium truly devastating!
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TIL check the strings attached to the "donations" you receive:
"...However, well-placed sources have told News Diggers! that #RightsCon has actually been cancelled because the programme involves Taiwanese delegates who would potentially speak against #China at a venue donated by the Chinese government."
#AccessNow has now publicly confirmed that they also believe the Chinese government pressured #Zambia into censoring #RightsCon 2026 because of participants from #Taiwan.
The statement of what happened is a testament of how strong the influence of authoritarians has become and how the global #DigitalRights community is a target.
A statement to our community about why RightsCon 2026 will not take place in Zambia
Our official statement to the digital rights community about why RightsCon 2026 will not take place in Zambia
RightsCon Summit Series (www.rightscon.org)
