The Chinese government has just canceled the world’s largest digital rights conference

RightsCon, the world’s largest digital rights conference, was canceled this year due to pressure from the Chinese government, according to the nonprofit that organizes the annual event.

In a statement, Access Now says it was “told that diplomats from the People’s Republic of China were putting pressure on the government of Zambia because Taiwanese civil society participants were planning to join us in person.”

The Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., and the Office of the United States Economic and Cultural Representative in Taipei did not immediately respond to requests for comment. When WIRED called the Zambian Embassy in Washington, a staff member answered the phone and transferred the call to another staff member who answered the call for several seconds before hanging up. A follow-up call was not answered.

Access Now says it was told “unofficially from multiple sources” that “in order for RightCon to proceed, we will have to water down certain topics and exclude vulnerable communities, including Taiwanese participants, from in-person and online participation.”

RightsCon 2026 was scheduled to feature several panel discussions on China’s international influence, including on how Beijing is exporting digital authoritarianism and spreading disinformation in regions such as Africa, as well as discussions on Chinese cyberattacks and the global spread of its censorship and surveillance technologies.

“Much of the information we have received indicates that foreign interference by the People’s Republic of China played a role in the sudden disruption of RightCon 2026,” Arzoo Gebula, co-executive director of Access Now, told WIRED.

A week before the conference was scheduled to be held in Lusaka, Zambia, the Zambian government suddenly announced that it would be postponed to an indefinite date. In a statement issued on April 28, the country’s Minister of Technology and Science, Felix Mutati, said some “speakers and participants remain subject to pending administrative and security clearances.” The next day, Thabo Kwana, Zambia’s Minister of Information and Communications, added that “the postponement was necessary due to the need for comprehensive disclosure of important information relating to the key thematic issues proposed for discussion during the summit.”

On April 27, two days before the Zambian government’s announcement, Access Now “realized that the personal participation of people from Taiwan had come to the attention of the PRC government. In turn, Chinese authorities were apparently trying to influence the Zambian government’s approach to the cross-border movement of Taiwanese participants,” says Gibula. “Shortly after, the Zambian government publicly cited “diplomatic protocols” and “pending administrative and security clearances” for participants as reasons for disrupting the human rights conference.”

Open Culture Foundation, a Taiwanese non-profit that was scheduled to attend this year’s human rights conference, says Access Now warned it that Taiwanese citizens may face problems entering Zambia due to potential concerns from the Chinese embassy. They have been asked to pause their travel plans while the host coordinates with Zambian officials.

Nikki Gladstone, RightsCon director at Access Now, confirmed to WIRED that the organization has been in contact with Taiwanese participants about potential issues related to traveling to Zambia. “Given the potential access issues this may pose to this community, many of whom were due to begin travel soon, we felt a duty to inform our registered Taiwanese participants of this development as we sought further details and information,” says Gladstone. “We said we would hesitate to recommend travel until there is more clarity.”

An employee at another human rights organization, who requested to remain anonymous for security reasons, told WIRED that after RightsCon was officially postponed, a grant funder told them that the Chinese government had been pressuring the Zambian government for several days about having a Taiwanese delegation at the conference.