The conference season is ramping up with two of the most important digital rights events coming up: EngageMedia’s second DRAPAC conference next week and Access Now’s 12th annual RightsCon at the beginning of June! And RDR will be there.
Our sessions this year will be focused on three essential issues: 1) Bringing the tech accountability movement to the Majority World, 2) the potential of ESG standards for digital rights, and 3) the perils of targeted advertising. Two of these represent key areas for expansion as RDR looks to the future during its 10th anniversary year. And RDR has long been at the forefront of ringing the alarm on the perils of targeted ads, a growing area of public concern.
Come check out our sessions to: 1) hear from us on these important topics, 2) chat with us in person, and 3) connect with us to join the tech accountability movement!
DRAPAC23
The Digital Rights in the Asia-Pacific 2023 Assembly will take place between May 22 and 26 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It is hosted by EngageMedia, an Asia Pacific-based non-profit promoting digital rights and open technology. The conference will bring together academics, journalists, advocates, and many others, as well as representatives from marginalized communities, to discuss the most pressing issues impacting digital rights in the region.
Check out the following sessions at DRAPAC23 to hear from, and connect with, RDR staff:
When: Monday 22nd May (12:15 – 14:00 pm local time)
Where: CMU Convention Center – Auditorium
What: The Digital Asia Hub (DAH), Open Culture Foundation (OCF), and OpenNet Korea (ONK), in association with RDR, are launching three new research reports, analyzing the policies and practices of tech companies in Malaysia, South Korea, and Taiwan.
The organizations are part of a pilot initiative of global organizations that have adapted Ranking Digital Rights’s Corporate Accountability methodology to analyze company policies in their local contexts. RDR and our partners will discuss key findings from the studies and look at how each organization approached adapting the methodology to suit their needs. This is the perfect case study for anyone considering their own adaptation project.
When: Tuesday 23rd May (13:15 – 15:15 pm local time)
Where: CMU Art Center – Exhibition Hall 2
What: This workshop will introduce participants to the RDR Corporate Accountability methodology and the resources that can be used to study the policies of tech companies across the Majority World, tailored to unique local contexts.
Join the RDR team as we showcase our new Research Lab, including our Knowledge Center and Scorecard Toolkit. This set of tools is making it easier than ever to adapt our standards to create individual projects.
During the workshop, we’ll explain how to use these tools and resources and what to keep in mind when adapting our methodology. Our aim is to grow the community of researchers that are able to study local and regional tech companies outside of the U.S. and EU.
When: Wednesday 24 May 13:00 – 14:45 pm local time)
Where: CMU Convention Center – Auditorium
What: This session will lead participants in a discussion of regional trends in corporate accountability, based on the experience of adapting the Ranking Digital Rights research methodology to study countries across the Asia-Pacific region, and other regions in the Majority World.
Attendees will discuss existing challenges in studying the region’s technology companies. We’ll also look at strategies for engaging with companies and other key stakeholders (including regulators and policymakers) using research data from RDR adaptations. Finally, we’ll identify opportunities to collaborate between organizations in the region (and globally) on advocacy campaigns aimed at confronting tech power.
RightsCon
RightsCon, which bills itself as the “world’s leading summit on human rights in the digital age,” will take place between June 5 and 8 in San José, Costa Rica. It’s organized by international human rights organization Access Now. The conference also brings together a wide range of stakeholders, from tech companies to human rights defenders, for a civil society-led conference aimed at building a “rights-respecting digital future.”
We’ll be hosting four sessions at RightsCon on a range of issues. Come join us for:
- “Deep pocket inspection: the promises and perils of ESG standards for digital rights”
When: Tuesday, June 6 (10:15 – 11:15 am local time)
Where: Room Tortuga
What: During this workshop, participants will learn from members of the investor community about the ESG ratings ecosystem, including benchmarks like RDR. Facilitators will walk participants through a brainstorming session examining opportunities and challenges in this space. Together, participants will then develop a call to action aimed at decolonizing ESG.
2. “Too small to count, too big to ignore: scrutinizing tech companies in the Majority World”
When: Tuesday, June 6 (16:30 pm – 17:30 pm local time)
Where: Room Guanacaste 2
What: While much of the digital rights community is focused on the impacts of big, international tech companies, smaller, local, and home-grown tech companies have been getting a free pass while facing inadequate scrutiny.
The Greater Internet Freedom Project, in collaboration with Ranking Digital Rights, has been conducting adaptations of the RDR Corporate Accountability Index methodology to assess and rank the performance of small and local companies around the world.
During this dialogue session, we’ll share trends and patterns from adaptations and assessments of almost 60 small and local tech companies in 17 countries across Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, which were conducted using RDR’s methodology. We’ll discuss avenues for developing advocacy strategies to hold tech companies—from small and local, to firms with an established regional business—accountable to international human rights standards. If you’re looking to hold tech power accountable at the local or regional level, we know you’ll learn a lot from joining RDR at this final RightsCon session.
3. “Online content moderation: Let’s play “Social Media Against Humanity – Ads Edition””
When: Wednesday, June 7 (9:00 – 10:00 am local time)
Where: Room Tucan
What: Social Media Against Humanity (SMAH) is a game where participants discuss content moderation on social networks and how its “rules” and parameters can be biased by each person’s beliefs. It was presented for the first time at RightsCon 2021, and hosted by Embajadores de Internet. The game is back again this year, and, this time, it’s co-hosted by Ranking Digital Rights! And there’s also a new twist: We’ll focus specifically on ads and their potential for promoting harmful or inappropriate content.
During the game, the facilitator will present 10 controversial sponsored social media posts (real or invented) and the audience will vote on, and discuss, what content moderation actions should be taken.
4. “Targeting telcos: how carriers profit from personalized advertising, and what to do about it”
When: Wednesday, June 7 (11:30 am – 12:30 pm local time)
Where: Room Tucan
What: This workshop sheds light on some of the world’s most powerful companies shaping our world from behind the scenes. Telcos — the companies that run your mobile plans and connect you to the internet — though less flashy than their Big Tech cousins, are also juggernauts of targeted advertising and surveillance infrastructure. Around the world, including in countries like India, Germany, South Africa, and the U.S., telcos are growing their ad businesses — and creating a full roster of human rights concerns.
This is an all-hands-on-deck workshop. An opening presentation will bring participants up to speed on the adtech activities of 12 of the world’s biggest multinational telcos, as well as their risks. Participants will identify knowledge gaps in this area, zero in on specific human rights threats, and chart pathways to more effective advocacy. Their ideas will be published in a blog post and incorporated into future Ranking Digital and Check My Ads projects.
We invite anyone looking to keep big tech accountable to international human rights standards to join our sessions and connect with us in person. We’re particularly excited to connect with two key groups: 1) Any Majority World civil society experts and 2) Investor activists interested in digital rights. Whether in Thailand or Costa Rica, we hope to see you soon!
