Largest Digital Human Rights Conference Suddenly Canceled

fortran77

It's misleading to call "RightsCon" a "Human Rights Conference."

kedislav

https://archive.is/M0sjy

2OEH8eoCRo0

They likely cancelled at the behest of China https://x.com/BethanyAllenEbr/status/2049683100565950937

yeah879846

Who would have to be threatened so much to cancel this? Even if it is canceled it does not mean that those who were going still can't meet and discuss things. 'Oh its canceled, well shit.. guess we can't do ANYTHING now.'

traceroute66

To be fair, I think the organisers are mostly to blame here. The linked article states "certain invited speakers and participants remain subject to pending administrative and security clearances, which have not yet been concluded" . I have friends who organise conferences as a $dayjob, including in countries where political and government clearances are required for conferences attended by speakers and participants from external countries. These clearances are typically required for BOTH the event AND each foreigner individually (and the foreigner will often be unable to even apply for, let alone obtain their visa until they have the clearance). Lets just say that organising a Human Rights Conference in such a country would probably not be the smartest idea in the world. Even for an uncontroversial conference, the clearance process is excruciatingly painful. I dread to think what it would entail for a Human Rights conference ! They took the risk. It didn't pay off. Hope they had solid events insurance to cover all the costs.

unixhero

Why the heck were they arranging it in a development country.

skeledrew

I feel like they should've been constantly wary about something like this happening and had fallback plans. Maybe just keep the entire thing an online event; sure online may not have the same kick as in person, but at least there wouldn't ever be a bunch of people with travel arrangements in limbo.

g8oz

The organizers need a country that is resistant to both American and Chinese pressure. And has a decent record on human rights itself.