RightsCon Tunis 2019: Full Schedule

Welcome to the Official Schedule for RightsCon 2019, the world’s leading summit on human rights in the digital age.

Together at RightsCon Tunis, our first summit hosted in the Middle East and North Africa, more than 2500 expert practitioners will come together across over 400 sessions to shape, contribute to, and drive forward the global agenda for the future of our human rights.

Important note: Whether you’re a session organizer, speaker, or participant, you’ll need to login to Sched or create an account in order to get the most out of the program (including creating a profile and building your own customized RightsCon schedule).

Be sure to get your ticket to RightsCon first. You can visit rightscon.org for more information.

RightsCon is brought to you by Access Now.

9:00am BST

Millimeter Waves, Small Cells, Beamforming, Oh My! Anticipating and addressing human rights impacts in a 5G environment

5G technology is well touted, but poorly understood. Experts agree that the transition from 4G to 5G will be significantly different from previous transitions, leading to new physical infrastructure and system architectures, bandwidth utilization, capabilities, and uses. These include the introduction or expansion of smart cities, augmented/virtual reality, driverless cars, and the “Internet of things” (IoT). Yet, despite this fanfare, there has been relatively little public discussion or analysis of the human right impacts and implications of 5G. The goal of this session is to educate participants about these differences and workshop an assessment of the opportunities that currently or will soon exist to influence the 5G roll-out to enhance positive and mitigate negative human rights impacts. This session will build on an initial session on 5G and human rights that the Global Network Initiative (GNI) organized at the Freedom Online Conference in Berlin in November 2018. A summary of that session can be found here. No expertise or prior experience on this topic is required! https://medium.com/global-network-initiative-collection/anticipating-and-addressing-human-rights-impacts-in-the-5g-environment-9de4e36ce909

Moderators

Nikki Bourassa

Global Network Initiative

Speakers

Yves Nissim

Laura Okkonen

Senior Human Rights Manager, Vodafone

A Business & Human Rights subject matter expert working in the ICT sector. A Finn based in the UK.

K.S. Park

Nicole Karlebach

Katie Shay

Senior Legal Counsel, Oath

Wednesday June 12, 2019 9:00am - 10:15am BST
Carthage 2 (Laico)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Workshop

Host Organization Global Network Initiative

9:00am BST

The State of Internet Shutdowns in 2019

The first 6 months of 2019 have been the worst shutdowns so far: Venezuela has systematically been blocking social media platforms for months while democratic countries like Benin have been shutting down the internet for elections. Some in the US media have written supporting social media shutdowns in Sri Lanka, while others in Senegal have been organizing to avoid shutdowns during elections. This panel discussion will bring together activists and policymakers that have worked hard to fight internet shutdowns in the past 6 months. The panelists, selected from countries that have shutdown the internet in the past 6 months, will highlight the state of internet shutdowns in 2019.

Moderators

Berhan Taye

Speakers

Kudakwashe T. Hove

Andres Azpurua

Befeqadu Hailu

Wednesday June 12, 2019 9:00am - 10:15am BST
L'Escale (Laico)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Panel

Host Organization Access Now
Trends Content Moderation

10:30am BST

Making Regulatory Waves: A discussion on the need for collaborative spectrum management policy development

Currently, spaces for spectrum management policy development are designed to be limited to the participation of national regulators. As a result, there is little opportunity for other stakeholders to contribute their expertise to the development of innovative, rights-respecting policy approaches to overcoming entrenched obstacles to efficiency and connectivity in current spectrum management practices. Therefore, the main goal of this session is to bring regulators in conversation with experts in academia and civil society to exchange best practices and policy experiences on some of the major issues impacting the spectrum market today.

Moderators

Maureen Hernandez

Fellow on Access, Article19.

Internet access. ICT4D

Speakers

Ermanno Pietrosemoli

Sofie Maddens

Head ITU/BDT/RME, ITU

Verengai Mabika

Steve Song

Fellow, Mozilla Foundation

Wednesday June 12, 2019 10:30am - 11:45am BST
Oya 2 (Laico)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Strategic Roundtable

Host Organization ARTICLE19

12:00pm BST

BLACKED OUT: A documentary about the longest internet shutdown ever recorded.."

1) I will be screening my documentary; a documentary that narrates the story of the longest over recorded internet black out that happened in Cameroon. It discusses the fundamental human rights abuse endured by the minority English-speaking people that make up the North and South West Regions of Cameroon. 2) Participants are expected to have a question and answer during this sitting soon after the documentary is screened.

Speakers

Agbor Balla Nkongho Felix

Wednesday June 12, 2019 12:00pm - 1:00pm BST
Leptis (Laico)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Panel

Host Organization BLACKED OUT PICTURES
Trends Content Moderation

2:15pm BST

Strategic Litigation against Network Shutdowns-Successes and Challenges

The main aim of the session is to highlight the challenges and successes different countries have witnessed while pursuing a law suit against network shutdowns in their respective countries. For this purpose, civil society members from different countries will be on panel including Pakistan, India and Cameroon. The moderator will lay the foundations of the discussion by explaining which countries have gone into strategic litigation. It will be followed by introduction of the guests and some discussion around following questions: Is strategic litigation an effective way to fight network shutdowns? What have been the challenges while pursuing legal case against network shutdowns? Were any threats faced by civil society for pursuing the case against network shutdowns? Why or why not the case against network shutdown has been resolved? What measures are being undertaken to initiate broader conversations around the illegality of network shutdowns? What is the way forward and how can KeepItOn community support these measures?

Moderators

Asad Baig

Speakers

Kathleen Ndongmo

Salwa Sameer Rana

Wednesday June 12, 2019 2:15pm - 3:30pm BST
Leptis (Laico)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Panel

Host Organization Media Matters for Democracy Pakistan
Trends Content Moderation

2:15pm BST

What role for regulators in the digital era?

Through this session, participants will learn about the role, powers, responsibilities and challenges faced by regulators in the digital era. In this firechat discussion will feature a moderated discussion with regulators from the telecoms and tech area to discuss how their role have evolved in the digital era, what is the impact of tech giants on their work and what actions can they take to protect users' rights.

Moderators

Estelle Masse

Speakers

Sébastien Soriano

Wednesday June 12, 2019 2:15pm - 3:30pm BST
Caspian (Palais)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Fireside Chat

Host Organization Access Now

3:45pm BST

Network Disruptions in Times of Conflict: Strategies for circumvention and resistance

In this session, participants will come together to discuss the impact of network disruption and internet censorship in times of conflict, and what strategies people have taken to circumvent it. A diverse group of regional researchers and activists, network measurers, and circumvention tool designers will come together to bring their own unique perspective on the effect of disruptions and censorship in times of conflict, and how the the impact can be mitigated. Whether a state or non-state actor is initiating these disruptions, they often have dire consequences for the people experiencing them, hindering their ability to communicate and their access to reliable news sources; and limiting their access to emergency services. The discussion will build on the existing work of the participants and hopefully inform future research and the development of circumvention tools. (For the AccessNow folks reading this, I have confirmed NetBlocks and Psiphon, but am waiting on them to tell me who. Potentially Helmi Noman who researches Yemen too. Very happy to add anyone else Access might recommend to this session).

Wednesday June 12, 2019 3:45pm - 5:00pm BST
Oya 3 (Laico)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Fishbowl

Host Organization SMEX
Trends Content Moderation

9:00am BST

Changing practices of internet manipulation

(1) Changing practices of internet manipulation: Each of the African experts quickly give an input on what has changed in their respective country/region in terms of internet manipulation. The focus here really is on HOW the practices have changed (2) Legal implications: Both country/legal experts quickly reflect on what these changes mean for the violation of digital rights (3) Challenges for Disclosure: The technical experts discuss what these changes imply for measuring/disclosing practices of internet manipulation. (4) Outlook/Solutions: Together, we discuss what parallels we find across countries, how to tackle new challenges and how to create synergies.

Moderators

Lisa Garbe

Research associate, University of St.Gallen

Our research team maps and analyzes all African ISPs and their shareholders; ISP involvement in shutdowns; and consequences thereof

Speakers

Nighat Dad

Founder, Digital Rights Foundation

Nighat Dad is the Founder and executive director of the Digital Rights Foundation (DRF), Pakistan, She has run the DRF since it was established in 2012, and has been a practicing lawyer since 2007, where she worked on civil, criminal and now cyber litigation... Read More →

Arthur Gwagwa

Senior Research Fellow, Strathmore University (CIPIT)

Arthur is currently working on a project funded by the Open Technology Fund. The project will detect, document, and analyze current and emerging cyber threats with a long term goal to mitigate their impact on users at risk in specific Sub-Saharan African countries especially around... Read More →

Rigobert Kenmogne

Digital Rights Program Officer for francophnone Africa, Paradigm Initiative

Rigobert works with Paradigm Initiative as a Digital Rights Advocacy Program Officer for Francophone Africa with an office in Cameroon. Prior to this position, Rigobert Kenmogne worked as Google Policy Fellow for the same organization in this part of Africa. He is a Cameroonian webjournalist... Read More →

Daniel Mwesigwa

Julie Owono

Alp Toker

Executive Director, NetBlocks

Alp is founder of the netblocks.org digital rights initiative and award-winning Turkey Blocks collective, and Sakharov Fellow for Freedom of Thought with the European Parliament. He works on freedom of expression online, digital transparency and policy tooling for internet governance... Read More →

Thursday June 13, 2019 9:00am - 10:15am BST
Oya 3 (Laico)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Fishbowl

Host Organization The Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT) - Strathmore Law School
Trends Content Moderation

9:00am BST

Connecting for Inclusion: The devil is in the detail!

The challenge of connecting the next 3 billion internet users is not just about providing infrastructure, it is also about privacy, safety online, and online content. With this session, we bring three people who are in one way or another trying to connect people to the internet and help them stay connected.

Moderators

Berhan Taye

Speakers

Chenai Chair

Research Manager: Gender and Digital Rights, World Wide Web Foundation

John Graham-Cumming

Erik Hersman

CEO, BRCK

CEO of BRCK, where we’re creating the on-ramp for affordable internet in Africa called Moja. Also the Co-founder of Ushahidi and founder of the iHub.

Thursday June 13, 2019 9:00am - 10:15am BST
Caspian (Palais)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Fireside Chat

10:30am BST

Does Social Media Deserve a Sin Tax? The impact of Internet service levies on human rights and sustainable development in Africa

Increasing incidents of taxing popular Internet services have occurred recently, including on social media use and voice of IP (VoIP) calls. While such measures are proposed for a variety of reasons, they could pose a significant threat to digital rights and make it more difficult for people to gain Internet access. This, in turn, can limit developing countries’ ability to harness the potential of the Internet for sustainable development. For example, a daily levy in Zambia applies to VoIP calls, while in Uganda online content providers must register and pay an annual fee, while users must pay a daily social media tax levy to access social media platforms. The session will examine recent work by APC and RIA, as well as other practitioners, to understand the impact of such mechanisms on digital inclusion, sustainable development, and human rights. Stakeholders from different communities will reflect on evidence from their respective regions on how taxations and deployed, and for what reasons. Finally, stakeholders will investigate the potential harms that may arise from imposing such levies in developing regions in particular, with the aim of making general recommendations for policymakers considering the use of such levies in Africa in the future.

Moderators

Deborah Brown

Speakers

Robert Muthuri

Anriette Esterhuysen

Chairperson, Senior Advisor Internet Governance, Policy Advocacy and Strategy, Association for Progressive

'Gbenga Sesan

Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative

‘Gbenga Sesan is the Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative, a pan-African social enterprise working on digital inclusion and digital rights through its offices in Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe. He is also a Non-Resident Fellow at the Digital Civil Society... Read More →

Alison Gillwald

Eleanor Marchant

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Oxford, Programme in Comparative Media Law & Policy

I'm a researcher specializing in communication, technology innovation, and startup culture, internet policymaking, internet shutdowns, internet connectivity as a human right, and connectivity in conflict and crisis, particularly for refugees, with a focus on the African context.Will... Read More →

Thursday June 13, 2019 10:30am - 11:45am BST
Utique (Laico)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Strategic Roundtable

Host Organization Research ICT Africa - South Africa, Association for Progressive Communications
Trends Content Moderation

10:30am BST

Measuring internet shutdowns

Censorship and internet shutdown measurement community play an integral role in identifying, documenting, and analyzing internet shutdowns and other forms of censorship. They help activists on the ground monitor and circumvent shutdowns. During this panel, we will bring together a diverse range of measurement community including VPN service providers to discuss how the measurement community can better help activists and victims of internet shutdowns and censorship better prepare for censorship incidents.

Moderators

Berhan Taye

Speakers

Alberto Dainotti

Research Scientist, CAIDA, University of California San Diego (UCSD)

Internet connectivity shutdowns / Internet outageshttps://ioda.caida.org/ioda/dashboard#from=-1w&until=nowTwitter: @caida_iodahttps://www.caida.org/~alberto/

Thursday June 13, 2019 10:30am - 11:45am BST
El Jem (Laico)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Strategic Roundtable

Host Organization Access Now
Trends Content Moderation

1:00pm BST

#KeepItOn Press Briefing: 2018 trends and ongoing challenges in the fight against internet shutdowns

In this press briefing, #KeepItOn coalition members will discuss the findings of the latest #KeepItOn Report, launching at RightsCon this week, and highlight the ongoing internet shutdown challenges in Venezuela and Sudan.

Speakers

Berhan Taye

Thursday June 13, 2019 1:00pm - 2:00pm BST
Caspian (Palais)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Press Briefing

2:15pm BST

Warning! Access to the Internet Is Suspended for Security Reasons – A policy discussion on the effectiveness of Internet shutdowns

Over the last decade, there has been a staggering increase in the number of Internet shutdowns. These have become a concern for everyone. People from all walks of life access the Internet for various purposes. A blanket ban to access the Internet on one segment of society not just impacts the targeted segment but it also disrupts the entire concept of the Internet. The one hour panel discussion on internet shutdowns will inform the participants about various ways in which the internet shutdowns disrupt lives. Governments justify internet shutdowns by citing public safety and public order concerns. From this panel of experts, participants will learn whether internet shutdowns achieve the desired outcomes intended by the government. The panelists will share personal stories and experiences to help participants understand this. Contributions from audience through suggestions, comments, questions or general remarks is critical to the success of our discussion. Interaction of this nature will make the discussion more informed and shape the path for good policy suggestions in this context.

Moderators

Prasanth Sugathan

Legal Director, SFLC.in

Prasanth Sugathan is a lawyer and the Legal Director at SFLC.IN.

Speakers

Lisl Brunner

Director, Global Public Policy, AT&T

Nighat Dad

Founder, Digital Rights Foundation

Alp Toker

Executive Director, NetBlocks

Ashnah Kalemera

Aditi Chaturvedi

Jan Rydzak

Associate Director for Program, Stanford Global Digital Policy Incubator

Thursday June 13, 2019 2:15pm - 3:30pm BST
L'Escale (Laico)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Panel

Host Organization Software Freedom Law Centre - India (SFLC.in)
Trends Content Moderation

3:45pm BST

Defining Meaningful Access: An expanded approach to connectivity

Why does internet access matter, and how can we measure when someone truly has access that can improve their quality of life? Help A4AI build on from its expertise in researching the cost of connectivity to expand into questions of quality of service, network continuity, and content filtering to help us come up with an objective, technical standard we can reference when we say "meaningful access". We'll start out with some initial thoughts to spark discussion, but expect this session to be discussion group-focused and led with your ideas!

Moderators

Teddy Woodhouse

Research Analyst & Advocate, World Wide Web Foundation

Teddy is a research analyst and advocate at the Web Foundation working on digital access and inclusion. He believes in the open web as a space for social solidarity and free expression. He first joined the Foundation in early 2016 and has supported the team’s ongoing policy work... Read More →

Speakers

Deepti Bharthur

Tope Ogundipe

Carlos Rey-Moreno

Thursday June 13, 2019 3:45pm - 5:00pm BST
Elyssa (Laico)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Workshop

Host Organization Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) - World Wide Web Foundation

5:15pm BST

Studying the impact of shutdowns from the lens of gender, conflict, and ethnicity

To be equipped with skills and knowledge required to devise studies on intentional Internet shutdowns while factoring in the intersections of gender, conflict-strained geographies and ethnicity. We would like the participants to be able to modify and adapt the study for their contexts and employ the lessons for the workshop for research or advocacy or both.

Moderators

Rohini Lakshané

Director (Emerging Research), The Bachchao Project

https://about.me.rohini

Speakers

Jan Rydzak

Associate Director for Program, Stanford Global Digital Policy Incubator

Raashi Saxena

Gapminder Foundation, Consultant

Ms. Raashi Saxena is a consultant for Gapminder Foundation, a Swedish non-profit that promotes sustainable global development and achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. In 2018, she served as a panelist at the United Nations Internet Governance Forum and presented... Read More →

Thursday June 13, 2019 5:15pm - 6:30pm BST
Hannibal (Laico)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Workshop

Host Organization The Bachchao Project

9:00am BST

Community Networks: Cooperation, regulation, and action

This session aims at taking stock of the existing research efforts with regard to community networks governance, technical developments and regulations. Panelists will identify lacunae regarding the aforementioned issues and put forward suggestions to bridge them.

This session will help us to strategize the commonalities and differences between and amongst the regions, and to further map-out recommendations that can lead to discussions among and between the CN community, policy makers, operators, regulators, and governments.

A proposal for Community Network Policy Recommendations, elaborated by the Dynamic Coalition on Community Connectivity (DC3) of the UN Internet Governance Forum, will be presented. Panelists will discuss how to implement the existing body of research and policy suggestions in order to facilitate and promote the deployment of community networks and an appropriate and enabling regulation of such initiatives around the world.

Moderators

Osama Manzar

Founder-Director, Digital Empowerment Foundation

I'm committed to the mission of eradicating information poverty from India and global south using digital tools through Digital Empowerment Foundation, an organisation I founded with my wife in 2002. Let's talk about how is the Internet revolutionising rural India?

Raoul Plommer

Board member, Effi ry

DIY-Connectivity with MESH, Digital rights, Pirate Parties

Speakers

Ritu Srivastava

Ephraim Kenyanito

Carlos Rey-Moreno

Maureen Hernandez

Fellow on Access, Article19.

Internet access. ICT4D

Adam Burns

founder, free2air

Adam Burns is a human-centered technologist and passionate information security specialist. Adam has worked in health and justice sectors, bringing emerging standard practices of information security and risk management to the handling of data vital to human and social well-being... Read More →

Luca Belli

Professor and Head of CyberBRICS.info, FGV Law School

Luca Belli, PhD is Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) Law School and associated researcher at the Centre de Droit Public Comparé of Paris 2 University. He focuses on the regulation of Internet access, data protection (particularly regarding... Read More →

Friday June 14, 2019 9:00am - 10:15am BST
Carthage 3 (Laico)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Workshop

Host Organization Digital Empowerment Foundation, Fundação Getulio Vargas - Sao Paulo School of International Relations

10:30am BST

Supporting the #KeepItOn campaign with network measurement data

Censorship events are increasingly being reported around the world. The need for evidence to support advocacy efforts against government-commissioned censorship is urgent. Access Now's KeepItOn movement has spearheaded campaigns against internet shutdowns around the world. These campaigns could be strengthened through the use of network measurement data, revealing the breadth and depth of internet censorship and potentially serving as evidence. The aim of this session is to explore how network measurement projects, like OONI (Open Observatory of Network Interference), can better support the KeepItOn community. We will also discuss the pros and cons of running network measurement tests from different platforms. We encourage you to join this workshop to: * Map out the needs of the KeepItOn community * Learn about different network measurement methodologies (and share your own!) * Identify the challenges (and limitations) in using network measurement tools and network measurement data as part of advocacy * Share feedback for the improvement of network measurement tools and methodologies, to better serve the needs of the KeepItOn community Through this discussion, we hope to identify the next steps to improve collaboration and better support advocacy efforts against internet censorship around the world.

Moderators

Arturo Filastò

Friday June 14, 2019 10:30am - 11:45am BST
Hannibal (Laico)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Fishbowl

Host Organization OONI (Open Observatory of Network Interference), Magma
Trends Content Moderation

12:00pm BST

#KeepItOn Campaign Community Meetup

The #KeepItOn community at Righstcon will be holding a private meeting only open to members of the coalition and potential new members to discuss the work of the collation.

Moderators

Berhan Taye

Friday June 14, 2019 12:00pm - 1:00pm BST
Jelsa (Laico)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Meetup

Host Organization Access Now

2:15pm BST

Widening the Spectrum: How can radio spectrum regulation advance community networks

The main goal of this session is to create a workshop space to discuss and change experiences including digital rights defenders, telecom representatives and CNs technicians and articulators and see how we can advance on spect rum regulation in order to advance CNs. Spect rum allocation is a very valuable resource for connectivity. The goal of this session is to highlight and call attention to the elect romagnetic spect rum as an essential part of digital rights and its viability to offer digital connection, inclusion, and criticism. Understand the st rategic importance of it in its many applications. Spect rum regulation for the advancement of connectivity and the work of community networks is often neglected by digital rights’ advocates and community networks’ organizations. Often times both types of advocates don’t coordinate action and under-emphasize the importance of regulation for the spread of community networks and connectivity.

Speakers

Bruna Zanolli

Host Org Artigo 19 Brasil, Mozilla fellow

I'm a self-taught popular interest technologist in the area of autonomous communications and infrastrutures with experience in deployment and maintenance of community networks, especially using LPFM radios and Wifi. I use principles of popular education and intersectional feminism... Read More →

Friday June 14, 2019 2:15pm - 3:30pm BST
Carthage 2 (Laico)

Turn It On and #KeepItOn: Connectivity and Shutdowns, Workshop

Host Organization Public Knowledge, Mozilla Foundation