RightsCon 2026: the countdown is on

Great news: in just 10 days, we’ll kick off the 14th edition of RightsCon in Lusaka, Zambia, and online! Still haven’t got your ticket? Don’t delay: in-person registration closes on April 28, with online registration open until May 1. Once you’ve registered, check out our participant guide, with all the information you need to make the most of your RightsCon experience. Read more via Access Now

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What to expect at RightsCon 2026

We’re getting excited, and we hope you are too. RightsCon will feature more than 550 sessions focused on human rights in the digital age, covering everything from feminist perspectives on AI and the human cost of content moderation, to the real-world impact of AI slop, and how to prevent backsliding on spyware accountability. Read the program, learn more about our expert speakers, or if you’re already registered, check your email for a link to access the full summit platform. Read more via Access Now

Standing together against spyware

Access Now joins amicus brief on spyware use against Azerbaijani civil society

In Azerbaijan, journalists and human rights defenders have been repeatedly targeted with spyware, including NSO Group’s infamous Pegasus. Together with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Data Rights, and Association Human Constanta International, we have filed an amicus brief before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to fight the use of spyware tools to silence and intimidate Azerbaijani civil society. Our brief highlights how gaps in legal protections, lack of oversight, and limited access to remedy enable the use of spyware against victims. Read more via Access Now

Why states are failing to rein in the spyware market

Around the world, demand for spyware technology continues to grow – and plenty of companies are happy to meet that demand. Governments, meanwhile, have failed to take the steps necessary to protect people from these dangerous tools. An article in the Computer Law & Security Review looks at why states remain hesitant to curb spyware, concluding that “unless they recalibrate the calculus underpinning their governance decisions, states will keep failing.” Read more via Computer Law & Security Review

The cost of cutting connectivity

2025 was the worst year on record for internet shutdowns as censors move to more targeted blocks

The latest #KeepItOn coalition data on internet shutdowns worldwide shows that governments are finding new ways to control information flows, including blocking specific platforms, prosecuting the use of popular circumvention tools, or allowing access to only a handful of government-approved accounts or services. This kind of allow-listing is “a clear way for the government to control what is happening and decide who gets access, which defeats the purpose of advocating for a global internet for everyone,” says Access Now’s Felicia Anthonio. “We should draw as much attention to this as we do to complete population cutoffs.” Read more via the TechRadar

The weaponization of the internet

When the internet is a battlefield, everyone is a casualty — and not a single day of 2025 passed without at least one internet shutdown. Access Now’s Zach Rosson talks to the Express Tribune about how authorities are controlling information flows and cutting connectivity, deliberately inflicting “isolation and psychological trauma on millions of people who find themselves suddenly and violently cut off from the world.” Read more via Express Tribune

Reporting when the internet goes dark

When connectivity is cut during a crisis or conflict, telling the truth about what is really happening on the ground becomes exponentially harder. Speaking to the Incubator for Media Education and Development (iMEdD), Zach Rosson warns that disruptions during conflict not only undermine free expression, they are also often a “precursor to atrocities and violence against civilians.” Read more via iMEdD

The funding crisis for resistance

How U.S. foreign aid cuts threaten free expression and its defenders worldwide

Whether we are fighting internet shutdowns or spyware, those of us defending free expression and other human rights need support. ARTICLE 19’s new report, Targeted, examines how the U.S. cuts on foreign aid have undermined civil society’s ability to safeguard internet freedom, protect journalists and human rights defenders, and combat disinformation around the world, mapping more than 280 projects that have been defunded. Read more via ARTICLE 19

Opportunities and other highlights

JOIN US: Assistant Controller

Access Now is hiring an Assistant Controller within our Finance team, to implement finance, accounting, and reporting activities, and assist in day-to-day finance operations. This is a full-time position, with preference for candidates located in the U.S., in the New York metropolitan area. Learn more and apply. Read more via Access Now

OPEN CALL: Freedom Online Coalition Advisory Network

If you or your organization work in civil society, the private sector, academia, or the technical community, and you care about defending human rights in the digital age, apply to join the next cohort of the Freedom Online Coalition Advisory Network (FOC-AN). Successful applicants will serve a voluntary two-year mandate helping to shape how multistakeholder internet governance works in practice. Learn more and apply by May 10. Read more via Freedom Online Coalition

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