STATEMENT On the Cancellation of RightsCon 2026 in Lusaka, Zambia

Paris, May 1, 2026 – Internet Without Borders joins 132 organizations of the NetRights coalition to condemn in the strongest terms the decision by the Zambian government to cancel RightsCon 2026, days before the conference was set to open in Lusaka on May 5, 2026.

The Zambian Minister of Technology and Science cited incomplete security clearances and the need for “further consultations” as justification. We reject these pretexts. Under international human rights law, restrictions on freedom of expression and freedom of assembly must be strictly necessary, proportionate, and based on specific legitimate aims. Those conditions are not met here. As Special Rapporteur Gina Romero stated: “The right to assemble must not be conditioned upon the disclosure of sensitive information or the surveillance of those convening.”

This is a blatant violation of the right of civil society to assemble, speak, and organize freely.

This attack carries a particular weight in the current context. Zambia enacted two new laws in 2025 that digital rights experts, including at CIPESA, say raise significant concerns over government surveillance and repression of speech. According to Freedom House’s 2025 Freedom of the Net report, the government has imprisoned individuals for online speech critical of the current government, and journalists are experiencing increased harassment. Hosting RightsCon in Lusaka was an opportunity to shine a light on precisely these dynamics.

We are deeply troubled by the signal sent beyond Zambia’s borders. Internet Without Borders is aware of credible claims reported by Tech Policy Press’ Editor in Chief Justin Hendrix that pressure from foreign governments contributed to the Zambian government’s decision to cancel Rightscon. Specifically, the presence of Taiwanese activists and the prospect of open discussion about the impact of China’s expansionist pressure on civic space, may have contributed to this unprecedented decision. If accurate, this represents an extremely alarming, yet increasingly normalized phenomenon: the deliberate export of authoritarian pressure to silence a space of global dialogue.

“We live in a dangerous moment for Human Rights defenders, technologists, journalists, and advocates of a free and open internet: the shrinking of civic space is increasingly coordinated, strategic, and transnational, at a time where we are all operating under unprecedented pressure. Civil Society Organizations are surveilled, prosecuted, defunded. All this is creating the conditions for repressive Governments to unilaterally dictate the terms of public and democratic debate. This is not inevitable. Solidarity and Resistance are more than ever necessary.” said Julie Owono, Executive Director of Internet Without Borders.

Far from depleting our efforts to gather, and work together, We at Internet Without Borders believe that moments like this serve as a reminder that Civil Society organizations need to double down on our efforts to collaborate, be in solidarity, and resist.

We join the outpouring of support to the incredible and resilient team at Access Now, who have relentlessly for the past 14 years allowed us to gather, share our experience and collaborate for the protection of Human Rights online.

We call on Governments that claim to support a free and open internet to move beyond declarations: fund digital rights work concretely and durably, defend civic space diplomatically, and push back againts authoritarian pressures. Regulation alone cannot protect our societies from the harms of unchecked technology and unchecked power. Only a robust, well-resourced, and genuinely international civil society can anticipate those harms, resist them, and build something better. Internet Sans Frontières commits to using this setback as an opportunity to do exactly that.

Internet Sans Frontières stands in full solidarity with Access Now, with the RightsCon team, and with every participant whose work, resources, and plans were disrupted by this decision.

Internet Sans Frontières is a digital rights organization dedicated to ensuring that the internet remains a free, open, and secure space for all.