September 9 2025 Agenda

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Join us for good food and music

12:00 to 13:00: Lunch and Networking Hour

Check out the various food vendors and connect with participants in a beautiful setting.

🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷 Calling all Brazilians 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

Make sure to check out the "Encontro da Comunidade Brasileira" at 14:30 today.

	Self-Organized Socials
	Arrange or check out the list of Self-Organized Socials taking place off-site (but close by) locations, ranging from meetups to numerous activities. https://pad.riseup.net/p/GGSocials
	A Sample of Today's Socials: IFEX Meet and Greet, Feminist Tech Dinner

	Booths You can find detailed Booths descriptions at the bottom of this page. In the venue (IRL), each booth has a number, found on the top-center of each booth's "window".
Booths, September 9
	13:00 - 15:00			15:30 - 17:30
Location	Name	Run by		Name	Run by
Booth 3	Human Constanta	Human Constanta
Booth 4a	Psychological First Aid: Tools for Care and Connection by Vita Activa	Vita Activa		Secure Storyteller Network	Secure Storyteller Network
Booth 4b	Amnezia VPN	Amnezia VPN		Amnezia VPN	Amnezia VPN
(Queer Rights Village) Booth 5	Queer Rights Booth			Logic(s) Magazine	Logic(s) Magazine
Booth 6	Open Source Design Collective	Open Source Design		Operator Foundation	Operator Foundation
(APC Village) Booth 7	NGI0 Infopoint & Spring Coaching	APC		Local Services and Community Communications: Emerging and Best Practices	APC
Booth 8	Article 19 & Yubico	Article 19 Yubico		Article 19 & Yubico	Article 19 Yubico
(Calyx Village) Booth 9	Calyx Institute	Calyx Institute		Calyx Institute	Calyx Institute
Booth 10	VPN Generator: Get your own VPN Here	VPN Generator		DT Institute, VPN, Datacasting, Off Grid Communications	DT Institute
Booth 11	Horizontal	Horizontal		Preserving Truth, Reclaiming Power - How to use Save by OpenArchive to Get the Boot off Our Necks	OpenArchive Save
(Circumvention Tech Village) Booth 12	Tor Project & Guardian Project	Tor Project Guardian Project		Tor Project & Guardian Project	Tor Project Guardian Project
Booth 13	Claw Back Your Data	Lockdown Systems Claw Back Your Data		De|Center	De|Center
Booth 14	!*! For Bodily Autonomy and Liberation !*!	Digital Defense Fund		No Safe Words: Rights-Based Perspectives on SRHR Censorship and Resistance	inroads
Booth 15	Disrupt the Business of Harm: Make Surveillance-Tech Less Profitable	Coalition for Surveillance-Tech Accountability: Freedom House, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, & FIND		Mobile Forensics and Mobile Auditing with SocialTIC	SocialTIC Datávoros
Booth 16	Software for Digitalized Communities, Citizens, Digital Devices: IdHub for Decentralized Identity and Verifiable Credentials, Workbench and DeviceHub for Inventory and Passports for Second-Hand Computers.	Pangea.org eReuse.org		Bugbane
(Open Measurement Gathering (OMG) Village) Booth 17	Censored Planet	Censored Planet		Measurement Lab and the Internet Quality Barometer	Measurement Lab Internet Quality Barometer
Booth 18	WITNESS' Deepfake Rapid Response Force and AI Detection for Human Rights Defenders	WITNESS Deepfake RR Force and AI Detection		BIRN's Digital Rights Monitoring and Research on Southeast Europe	Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) Digital Rights Monitoring
Booth 19	Power to Voices	Oxfam Novib Power to Voices		Power to Voices	Oxfam Novib Power to Voices
(Regional Conversations A) Booth 21	Fear on the Net: How the Venezuelan Internet Broke After the Elections.	VE sin Filtro Conexion Segura y Libre		Urgent Action Fund Latin America and the Caribbean	Urgent Action Fund Latin America and the Caribbean
(Regional Conversations B) Booth 22	South Asia Village: Resisting Digital Injustice, Building Collective Resilience	Digital Rights Foundation		From Surveillance to Safety: Community-Driven Approaches to Digital Accountability in South Asia	Digital Rights Foundation
Booth 57	Numun Fund	Numun Fund
(Luminate Village) Booth 78 and 79	Effective Altruism: How Can We Respond?	Luminate AI Collaborative		Effective Altruism: How Can We Respond?	Luminate AI Collaborative
Booth 80	The ARISE Accountability Arcade: Feminist and Global South-Led Campaigns for Platform Accountability	Digital Empowerment Foundation: Project ARISE		Rise Against Big Tech (by in.fra.red)	in.fra.red Rise Against Big Tech
(SWANA Village) Booth 81	SMEX / Bread & Net	SMEX Bread & Net		JOSA	JOSA
Booth 82	Palestine Booth	Solidarity Network of Palestinians and Allies		Palestine Booth	Solidarity Network of Palestinians and Allies

	Global Gathering After Hours
18:00 - 21:00	Karaoke!!! Our favorite pass time! Bring your song selection, regardless of genre, time period or language!

Partners

Thank you to all of the partners and sponsors that have made the 2025 Global Gathering possible!

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Village and Circle Descriptions

Villages are "all-day hubs" focused on specific topics. They house both Booths and Circles.

Village	Run by	Village Description
AI Safety: For Who?	Luminate AI Collaborative	For the past six months, Luminate and AI Collaborative have hosted a series of workshops exploring the effective altruist movement, the impact it is having on policy, philanthropy and media responses to AI, and strategies for philanthropy and civil society to respond. Come along to AI Safety: For Who? Village to have a chat and learn about effective altruism and AI Safety, and this movement's incursion into the fields in which we work. For most of the afternoon, the Village will have an office hours format where participants can drop by at their convenience to learn about the insights from the workshops, ask questions about effective altruism and AI safety, and discuss possible next steps.  From 15:00 to 16:00, join us for a drop-in session to ideate and discuss next steps following this workshop series.
APC Village	APC	The APC Village is hosted by the Association for Progressive Communications and offers a space to explore feminist, human rights–based approaches to technology. Visit to learn about APC’s global initiatives, connect with network members, and share strategies for digital justice. The APC Village's nature is one of multiple voices, constant creation of alternatives, actions and presence, distributed across local regions and globally nurturing visions for the future.
Calyx Village	Calyx Institute	Visit the Calyx Village to meet the team behind the Calyx Institute, exchange ideas on privacy and digital freedom. It’s a welcoming hub for learning and connection.
Circumvention Technology Village	Tor Project Guardian Project	The Circumvention Village is a hub for practitioners and researchers working on circumvention technology to connect, exchange ideas, and explore collaboration. It also welcomes newcomers, offering a space to learn about projects, and get answers to pressing questions
Open Measurement Gathering (OMG) Village	Censored Planet, IODA, M-Lab and OONI	Step into the OMG Village to connect with OONI, IODA, M-Lab, and Censored Planet, and discover the latest tools for tracking internet censorship. It’s a space to learn, share experiences, and shape the future of open measurement.
Queer Rights Village	Global Gathering Attendee Coalition	The Queer Rights booth will provide space for LGBGTQI+ attendees to this year’s Global Gathering. We have a welcome circle on day 2, and space for more circles on Day 3- tell us your ideas! This space is an intersectional queer feminist space that embraces emotion and embodiment and is meant to be explicitly decolonial, antiracist, and transfeminist. We encourage new people to stop by, and allies with a lot of experience in digital rights to make themselves available to our new community members.
Regional Conversations A & B	Global Gathering Attendee Coalition	The Regional Conversations Villages (A & B) provide dedicated spaces for participants to connect around shared regional contexts. They are hubs for exchanging experiences, exploring cross-border challenges, and identifying opportunities for collaboration.
SWANA Village	Global Gathering Attendee Coalition	Join the SWANA Village to meet others from South West Asia and North Africa, exchange stories, and explore ways to tackle shared challenges. It’s a space for connection, collaboration, and strengthening solidarity across the region.

Circle Title	Circle Description
Alternatives to DJ Boom Boom Boom 🏆	I think its fair to say we have all had enough of DJ Boom Boom Boom monoplizing our airways. Its time that a new generation of DJs be brought into the digital rights community. Join us to explore how we can collectively open new avenues for talent, and collaboratively plot a roadmap for how we may jointly proceed with implementation with new stakeholders. This Circle is being run by TCU staff, and thank you in advance for your support. Prizes will be provided for the most promising talent to replace Boom Boom Boom. This is no laughing matter - this is a dancing matter. We will have a consensus based audition, with regional constituencies empowered as decision-makers.
AI Risk Mitigation from the Trainer and Civil Society Organization Point of View	Civil society organizations are rapidly adopting AI, outpacing their ability to mitigate the associated risks. Participants will discuss effective strategies for building capacity to mitigate risks while still leveraging the opportunities AI presents.
AI vs Journalism and Civil Society: Will there Be a Winner?	Participants will discuss the change of media landscape caused by AI overuse and challenges connected thereto, the impact of automatization on the media needs, and the grey zones emerging because of this. Additionally, discussions will focus on the digital security threats connected to irresponsible or reluctant use of AI in the countries with high index of human rights breaches. Rapid increase in the number and diversity of the AI-driven tools largely shifted the shape of media and civil society operational and substantive work. It both creates additional challenges for verification of data, media business model and monetisation of the journalistic work, and provides for additional opportunities, especially for local and regional media that are understaffed or lack funding to maintain large teams of experts. A current discourse is drawn around the issue of the redlines for active AI application in media sphere, i.e., what tasks can be safely, efficiently and meaningfully automatized, how to ensure safe and human-rights-compliant automatization, ways to pick the right tools to avoid data leaks and breaches of IP legislation, etc.
A Listening Session on the Digital Rights Funding Collapse	Share your experiences and help map the impact of the ongoing funding collapse on our communities and networks - whether you've been directly affected, are supporting impacted groups, or trying to make sense of what's happening. Through these stories participants will also help identify emerging patterns. Over the past year, the digital rights ecosystem has been shaken by an unprecedented wave of funding cuts, with organizations across the globe—especially those led by and serving marginalized communities—forced to downsize, pause programs, or shut down entirely. This isn’t just a budget issue; it's a structural crisis with long-term implications for our collective safety, resilience, and ability to defend digital freedoms.
Jeopardy! Are You My Measurement Tool?	Have you ever experienced an Internet shutdown or censorship event, but then didn’t know which open Internet measurement tool to turn to? Join the Open Measurement Gathering groups (Censored Planet, IODA, M-Lab and OONI) in a game of jeopardy designed to help guide you through which Internet measurement tool you need. This circle aims to build the capacity of the Internet Freedom community to understand when to use what measurement tool to monitor and report on internet shutdowns and censorship events. We will start with a review of when to use which tool followed by a live game show that tests and further builds knowledge, culminating and sweet rewards! Following Global Gathering, the OMG groups will release a public guide on which internet measurement datasets to refer to depending on the type of internet shutdown or censorship event you’re investigating.
Brainstorm on Alternative Funding Models (Part 2)	This is part 2 of a two part circle series. As our field faces a historic funding crisis, many of us are asking "what now?" We all are looking for alternative funding, but how do we organize for that? How do we prepare our organization to become more agile on fundraising? What options of alternative funding exist—from reimagined grantmaking models to untapped donors, ethical partnerships, and community-powered support. Together, we’ll surface bold ideas, share examples from adjacent movements, and identify who might be ready to fund this work—even if they haven’t yet. This Circle will help us expand our collective imagination and begin to chart a path toward financial resilience rooted in solidarity, innovation, and justice.
Capacity Building in Community Contexts: Needs, Pedagogies, and Emerging Challenges	This Circle will explore how capacity building processes can better respond to community realities, focusing on training needs, pedagogies and tools that support meaningful learning, and the challenges posed by AI in education. It will be a space to exchange experiences and collectively reflect on approaches rooted in community priorities. It builds on ongoing regional training processes and aims to link community-based experiences with global debates on digital inclusion and emerging technologies.
Common Platform Vetting Process	We are building a platform call Common, which is a network that supports democratic resource allocation. The session will gather practitioner insights on verification methods, trust-building processes, and safeguards that protect the community while avoiding unnecessary barriers to entry for aligned organizations, especially those that are emerging, under-resourced, or historically excluded from such networks.
Connected Infrastructures for Collective Survival	Visit the APC Village (Booth 7) to learn more!
Device Searches Around The World: Building For Deniability	Participants will share (as much as they feel comfortable) their real-world experiences of device searches - borders, police checkpoints, during detention, etc - including what was inspected, why, and how these searches played out in different parts of the world. Together, they will examine these stories to exchange safety strategies that move beyond individual tactics towards envisioning the systemic changes our tools need. De|Center staff will be facilitating this Circle, drawing on their long history of advocating for harm reduction on platforms. They will guide participants on discussions that explore how to build harm reduction and deniability directly into device and app design -- from invisible messages and self-destruct functions to offline and online coded communication -- and think of new paradigms of what can be possible.
Effective Altruism: How Can We Respond?	For the past six months, Luminate and AI Collaborative have hosted a series of workshops exploring the effective altruist movement, the impact it is having on policy, philanthropy and media responses to AI, and strategies for philanthropy and civil society to respond to this movement's incursion into the fields in which we work. From 15:00 to 16:00, join us for a drop-in session to ideate and discuss next steps following these workshops. For the rest of the afternoon, the AI Safety for Who? Booth will follow an office hours format where participants can drop by to learn about the insights from these workshops, ask questions about effective altruism and AI safety and discuss possible next steps.
Encontro da Comunidade Brasileira (Braziliian Meetup)	Uma oportunidade maravilhosa para os brasileiros se conectarem, compartilharem atualizações e encontrarem oportunidades de colaborar e celebrar uns aos outros.
From Seas to Skies: The New Frontiers of Internet Governance	Beyond traditional areas of network and telecommunications governance, new tensions are increasingly reshaping what internet governance means: who is actually governing the new technologies that increasingly facilitate our internet connections? As companies like Google, Amazon, AWS, and Starlink expand their control over submarine cables, cloud infrastructure, and satellite networks, the longstanding approach to governing the internet stack through a set of well-known bodies like ICANN and the IETF is becoming more fragmented and contested. This Circle will explore both the traditional venues of Internet governance and what is at stake there for the IF community as well as map how governance is shifting from traditional internet governance and technical standards bodies to new venues, and what civil society can do to prevent the consolidation of power over the internet.
From Palestine to Mexico: The Interconnectedness of Violent Tech	The genocidal war on Gaza is being committed by Israel and a web of global markets led by tech and military companies who are profiting from this war, as clearly illustrated by Francesca Albanese report, "From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide". Participants will explore how certain tech is not only being applied in violent ways but also built in violent ways, such as the mining exploitation of DRC Congo. Participants will also discuss explicit examples of the inter-disconnectedness of the economies of oppressive tech industry, looking at the connections between Silicon Valley and military, governments, universities, and research centers.
Inside a Cross-Border Investigation on Surveillance and Censorship Tech	Join Amnesty Tech and InterSec Lab for a look at their groundbreaking collaborative investigation into surveillance and censorship technologies, which will be launched during the Global Gathering. Learn about their findings on how powerful digital tools are being traded and deployed across borders to suppress civic space. Participants will have the opportunity to explore: + The methodologies used to analyze and safeguard highly sensitive leaked data + The secure platforms and workflows enabling cross-organizational collaboration + Key investigative findings and their implications for the global digital rights community Engage directly with investigators, learn replicable practices, and discuss the broader ecosystem enabling rights-abusing technologies to flourish. It’s also one of the first chances to respond collectively to the investigation’s revelations, as it launches in real time at the Gathering.
Internet Measurement Research Questions and Ideas	Internet measurement data is only as valuable as the questions it helps us answer. What research questions should we be asking? What insights do you hope to uncover through internet censorship data? Join this interactive brainstorming session to share your ideas, highlight pressing research needs, and help shape the future direction of censorship measurement and analysis.
Leading AI Detection: Deepfakes, Provenance & Protection	Deepfakes are rapidly evolving—and so are the threats they pose. In this Circle, particiipants willl unpack how generative AI is being used to create increasingly realistic audiovisual content, and explore two key strategies for mitigating harm: provenance and detection. We’ll also spotlight emerging threats to those on the frontlines of media and human rights and invite participants into an interactive conversation to share experiences and strategies for collective defense.
Media vs. Censors: Sharing Expertise	This Circle focuses on facilitating exchange among media and publishers of all sizes who are trying to bring their content to autocracies, either in their own country from exile, or on the international stage. Questions covered include: What impact do these conditions have on editorial work?; What do shutdowns mean for distribution, and how do communicators and recipients deal with them?; What learnings from the past can help our future goals?
Mapping the Global Spyware Landscape: Perspectives, Gaps & Possibilities	Led by partners of the Spyware Accountability Initiative, this interactive Circle invites participants to collectively map the diverse range of work, perspectives, and lived experiences related to spyware and surveillance technologies around the world. Whether you’re working on investigations, victim support, policy reform, tool development, or community education—this space is for you. Participants will explore + What does spyware work look like across regions and sectors? + Where are the critical gaps in accountability, protection, and response? + How can we better connect efforts, reduce duplication, and amplify underrepresented voices?
Secure Messaging in 2025 and What Comes Next?	Join the Phoenix R&D team for a conversation on what secure messaging looks like in 2025—and where it's headed next. We'll explore current trends, emerging gaps, and how evolving privacy technologies and federated protocols are reshaping the landscape. This session invites input from developers, advocates, and end users alike to help define the future of secure, user-centered communication. Come share your insights and help us imagine what comes next.
Sketch It Out: Unblock Your Brain and Spark Creative Flow	Feeling stuck? Overwhelmed? In this guided circle, we’ll use simple sketching and visual thinking to unlock creativity, ease mental clutter, and see familiar problems in a new light. No drawing skills needed—just a willingness to explore with pen and paper. Through a series of playful prompts and reflections, you’ll learn how visual expression can: + Calm a busy or anxious mind Help externalize and reframe challenges + Tap into intuitive, nonlinear thinking + Make space for clarity, insight, and even joy. Come as you are, leave with a few lines on a page and a lighter mind
TFGBV, Disinformation, and Platform Accountability in the Indo-Pak Conflict of 2025	In May 2025, the Indo-Pak military escalations spilled into the digital sphere, where women and gender minorities became deliberate targets of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), gendered disinformation, and hate speech. Drawing on DRF's ""Digital Battlegrounds"" research and real-time monitoring from both sides of the border, this Circle will examine how online misogyny, AI-generated disinformation, and nationalist propaganda intersected during the conflict. Participants will explore platform accountability gaps, the role of algorithms in amplifying harm, and the urgent need for cross-border solidarity and policy reform in high-conflict contexts.
Mapping Emerging Digital Rights Threats	What should we be measuring to prepare for the future of digital rights? Participants will share, based on their work and experience, what major digital rights threats they foresee emerging globally in the next decade. They will also discuss howe we can prepare as a community. Join this interactive brainstorming session to share your insights, identify measurement priorities, and help shape a collective response to the evolving digital landscape.
Reclaiming Voices and Online Space Amid Growing Repression in SWANA	This Circle will explore the ongoing shrinking of civic space across the SWANA region, focusing on developments such as cybercrime laws used to criminalize online speech, violations of privacy, and expanding state and non-state surveillance. We will examine how these trends are impacting communities at risk, including human rights defenders, journalists, migrants, and others, and discuss ways to collectively push back and reclaim civic space. The aim is to create a space for collective reflection and exchange among regional organizations and to explore ways to strengthen collaboration and solidarity in addressing shared challenges related to online civic space in the region.
Queer Bodies and Identities Under Threat in the Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) Region.	In the vibrant landscapes of Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA), the richness of diverse cultures and identities shines brightly. However, behind this colorful surface, many queer and trans individuals face challenges that can feel like dark clouds obscuring the sun. People who identify as queer, trans, and non-binary often struggle for acceptance and safety, as societal norms and legal frameworks can sometimes push them into the shadows.. In this Circle, participants will discuss safety and security trends faced by LGBTIQ+ communities in the SWANA region, especially during wars and armed conflicts, and explore creative and resilient ways these communities use to stay safe and connected.
Queer Meetup	This space is for LGBGTQI+ folks to meet each other and talk about their experiences in the digital rights space. This facilitated discussion will give participants a chance to meet new people, and share ideas about other Circles they would like to have in the Queer Rights space on day 3 of the Gathering. This space is an intersectional queer feminist space that embraces emotion and embodiment and is meant to be explicitly decolonial, antiracist, and transfeminist. New people are encouraged to attend, and allies with a lot of experience in digital rights to make themselves available to our new community members. If you need any accommodations to attend, such as arranging seats in a specific way, please let the organizers know. Whisper translation is also welcomed.
Surveillance Technologies and Organized Crime: Impacts and Resistance	Organized crime is increasingly used as a justification for deploying surveillance technologies such as facial recognition, drones, and mass data collection. This Circle will explore how these measures, often introduced in the name of public safety, can undermine human rights, enable unchecked state power, and disproportionately impact marginalized communities. Together, participants will exchange experiences, analyze regional trends, and discuss strategies for building security approaches that respect rights and democratic values.
The Full Picture Campaign (OVOF) Session	Visit the APC Village (Booth 7) to learn more!
The Practice of Joy: Sustaining Hope in the Tech Justice Movement	In tech justice work, the harms and their impact of Big Tech often take center stage. Still, joy, humor, and creativity are also powerful tools of resistance, advocacy, and for sustaining hope in the present moment. This participatory circle invites you to reflect on the strategies that sustain hope and energy in movements and share moments when joy emerged in your work, even amidst struggle. This Circle reframes joy as a core strategy that sustains organizations and networks working on urgent issues, while disrupting oppressive systems, resisting burnout, and helping us imagine futures worth building Reflections and strategies shared will be put into a collective "Practices of Joy" Zine. This living resource will offer inspiration and concrete strategies for weaving it into our ongoing work.
The Role of Data and Tech During Elections & its Effect on Human Rights	Participants will discuss government usage of data-intensive technologies - which goes hand-in-hand with the involvement of private companies - during election cycles. Participants will discuss risks involved, and what can be done to avoid abuse of voters' data during the the election cycle. Additionally, they will play a game of cards, based on Privacy International's data and election's checklist, and be given a copy of the card game as a gift to take home. This session will be co-hosted by various partners from different regions.
VPN Guild	At last year's Global Gathering, a group of VPN developers sat down and asked: what if we actually joined forces? Not just to build better tech, but to push advocacy forward, share expertise, set real standards for security and privacy - and keep competition fair. That question sparked the VPN Guild - an industry-wide association of VPN services. Now we're circling back: is this experiment working, what challenges do we face, what new doors are opening, and how can we shape the future together?
VPN Providers: Building a Unified Front to Ensure Our Collective Sustainability	The fight for a free and open internet is multifaceted, with countless VPN-focused groups are working on parallel tracks. While this diversity is a strength, it can lead to fragmented efforts and duplicated work. This Circle aims to bridge these gaps by creating a space for urgent, strategic collaboration focused on sharing resources, knowledge, and tools. Potential discussion points: What are our common needs as service providers? How can we create a practical framework for sharing and co-developing open-source VPN tools and infrastructure to avoid reinventing the wheel? What initiatives and technology are helping reduce the costs of operation? How can we present ourselves as a united front to attract more funding from governments and the private sector We encourage VPN service providers, researchers, technology developers, adopters, and funders to join this crucial conversation.
What Happens Next? Mapping Potential Futures of Organising & Tech in the Current Funding Drought	With the near-collapse of the US government foreign aid funding ecosystem, a retreating philanthropic landscape and increasing regulatory restrictions on funding flows, what is the impact on our work in digital rights and in tech & social justice? Through worldbuilding and spec fic methodologies, how can we start to map out the impact to our movements and our capacity to organize in a field that is increasingly also a driving force to the current polycrises we are experiencing? And importantly, how might we be able to change and evolve to be able to support each other and sustain the work we do? This is the first of a two part session to hold space for collective intelligence and imagination on meeting the current resourcing moment as interconnected actors in shared ecosystems and movements.
Which Free Software Alternative for Which Needs	Migrating from software provided by tech giants or VC-funded companies towards self-hosted open-source software is important to ensure your data is not held hostage. But not all those are created equal: some are more complex to migrate to, miss features that some think essential, or have other limitations that are hard to find before migrating to it. Participants will discuss different experience with different free or open-source software so each can find the one that fits their use case.
Who’s Writing Our Story? Documenting the why as well as the how	Who decides what gets remembered, and why? Join this interactive session exploring how we document our organizations, our movements, and the moments that shape our lives. Participants will dive into the politics of memory, the power of storytelling, and the practical tools we use to capture and preserve our work. From everyday digital records to community archives, participants will reflect on how to safeguard our stories and facts, without losing critical context along the way.
Your Partner is Not a Hacker! Fanzines to Demystify Cellphone Hacking and Forensic Analysis	Visit the APC Village (Booth 7) to learn more!

Village and Circle Descriptions

Villages are "all-day hubs" focused on specific topics. They house both Booths and Circles.

Village	Run by	Village Description
AI Safety: For Who?	Luminate AI Collaborative	For the past six months, Luminate and AI Collaborative have hosted a series of workshops exploring the effective altruist movement, the impact it is having on policy, philanthropy and media responses to AI, and strategies for philanthropy and civil society to respond. Come along to AI Safety: For Who? Village to have a chat and learn about effective altruism and AI Safety, and this movement's incursion into the fields in which we work. For most of the afternoon, the Village will have an office hours format where participants can drop by at their convenience to learn about the insights from the workshops, ask questions about effective altruism and AI safety, and discuss possible next steps.  From 15:00 to 16:00, join us for a drop-in session to ideate and discuss next steps following this workshop series.
APC Village	APC	The APC Village is hosted by the Association for Progressive Communications and offers a space to explore feminist, human rights–based approaches to technology. Visit to learn about APC’s global initiatives, connect with network members, and share strategies for digital justice. The APC Village's nature is one of multiple voices, constant creation of alternatives, actions and presence, distributed across local regions and globally nurturing visions for the future.
Calyx Village	Calyx Institute	Visit the Calyx Village to meet the team behind the Calyx Institute, exchange ideas on privacy and digital freedom. It’s a welcoming hub for learning and connection.
Circumvention Technology Village	Tor Project Guardian Project	The Circumvention Village is a hub for practitioners and researchers working on circumvention technology to connect, exchange ideas, and explore collaboration. It also welcomes newcomers, offering a space to learn about projects, and get answers to pressing questions
Open Measurement Gathering (OMG) Village	Censored Planet, IODA, M-Lab and OONI	Step into the OMG Village to connect with OONI, IODA, M-Lab, and Censored Planet, and discover the latest tools for tracking internet censorship. It’s a space to learn, share experiences, and shape the future of open measurement.
Queer Rights Village	Global Gathering Attendee Coalition	The Queer Rights booth will provide space for LGBGTQI+ attendees to this year’s Global Gathering. We have a welcome circle on day 2, and space for more circles on Day 3- tell us your ideas! This space is an intersectional queer feminist space that embraces emotion and embodiment and is meant to be explicitly decolonial, antiracist, and transfeminist. We encourage new people to stop by, and allies with a lot of experience in digital rights to make themselves available to our new community members.
Regional Conversations A & B	Global Gathering Attendee Coalition	The Regional Conversations Villages (A & B) provide dedicated spaces for participants to connect around shared regional contexts. They are hubs for exchanging experiences, exploring cross-border challenges, and identifying opportunities for collaboration.
SWANA Village	Global Gathering Attendee Coalition	Join the SWANA Village to meet others from South West Asia and North Africa, exchange stories, and explore ways to tackle shared challenges. It’s a space for connection, collaboration, and strengthening solidarity across the region.

Booth Descriptions

Booth	Run by	Booth Description
AI Safety: For Who?	Luminate AI Collaborative	For the past six months, Luminate and AI Collaborative have hosted a series of workshops exploring the effective altruist movement, the impact it is having on policy, philanthropy and media responses to AI, and strategies for philanthropy and civil society to respond to this movement's incursion into the fields in which we work. From 15:00 to 16:00, join us for a drop-in session to ideate and discuss next steps following these workshops. For the rest of the afternoon, the booth will follow an office hours format where participants can drop by to learn about the insights from these workshops, ask questions about effective altruism and AI safety and discuss possible next steps.
Amnezia VPN	Amnezia VPN	Amnezia VPN is an open-source project that helps people bypass internet censorship and protect their privacy. Stop by to get an update on their tools and research into how censorship is evolving, especially in authoritarian contexts. while learning how they tracks and analyzes website blocks across different regions. Amnezia will also be creating an interactive space that connects art and technology. Stop by to Listen to a playlist of songs banned in Russia for political, queer, or cultural reasons; Browse books with real examples of censored or redacted content; Contribute your own stories of censorship in music, literature, media, or code from your country to build a shared archive of artistic and digital resistance.
Article 19 & Yubico	Article 19 Yubico	ARTICLE 19 and Yubico will be raising awareness of their work in the digital rights community. Participants will have a chance to find out more about ARTICLE 19’s work on digital security, internet infrastructure, and freedom of expression. Through Yubico’s Secure it Forward program, Yubico will be providing hands-on support - distributing free YubiKeys to attendees who need them, and sharing simple, practical resources to help strengthen digital security.
BIRN's Digital Rights Monitoring and Research on Southeast Europe	Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) Digital Rights Monitoring	BIRN's booth will showcase the organisation's work on conducting systematic monitoring and in-depth research, with a strong focus on surveillance and censorship in the Western Balkans, as well as broader digital rights violations in ten Southeast Europe countries. The booth will also serve as an interactive community space for participants to engage with the team, be presented with, and ask questions on BIRN monitoring tools, methodologies, and recent research publications. Researchers, monitors, civil society representatives, and journalists are especially encouraged to participate
Bugbane	Bugbane	Come see Bugbane, our open-source mobile forensics app that helps users detect spyware and stalkerware directly on their own devices. We’re gathering feedback from the community and input from digital forensics experts to shape the next stages of development.
Calyx Institute	Calyx Institute	Are you developing open source mobile tools and looking for partnership and collaboration opportunities? Does your community have any particular privacy and security needs when it comes to digital tools? Come meet the Calyx Institute! This year, they are also celebrating the new recipients of our Sepal Fund. Join Library Freedom Project, Red Abya Yala, and other Sepal Fund grantees to get to know the crucial community work they have been doing. In addition, if you have used mobile tools developed by Calyx, such as CalyxOS and Seedvault, or would like to know more about their tooling, they would love to hear your experience or suggestions!
Censored Planet	Censored Planet	Censored Planet is a research lab that investigates how internet access is being shaped and restricted around the world. As censorship tactics become more complex and harder to detect, we develop new ways to study these systems and understand who they affect. We focus on internet measurement, network security, and privacy to produce research and tools that support journalists, civil society, and the broader internet freedom community.
Claw Back Your Data	Lockdown Systems Claw Back Your Data	Cyd is an open source project that helps users backup their data from X/Twitter, optionally migrate their tweets to Bluesky, and then delete what they want from X. The booth will demo how Cyd works, and assist attendees to delete or backup their data. (If you want to delete all your tweets, request an archive from X ahead of time.) The tech platforms that we all rely on are controlled by a tiny group of powerful billionaires who profit off our data, often selling it to AI companies and marketers. Learn about Cyd to claw back control of your data from Big Tech.
Disrupt the business of harm: Make Surveillance-Tech Less Profitable	Coalition for Surveillance-Tech Accountability: Freedom House, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, & FIND	Freedom House and the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre ('BHRRC') have developed complementary reporting templates that civil society actors can utilize to hold abusive surveillance firms accountable for facilitating human rights violations. These forms can be filled out and submitted to governments and investors, to both expose and hold accountable the corporate actors responsible for facilitating harms. Come by to checkout these forms, and learn about their investigative research into the companies behind these technologies.
Digital Citizenship Helpline: Community-Centered Digital Safety	Digital Citizenship	The Digital Citizenship Helpline is a support initiative that provides personalized digital safety assistance to women, activists, and at-risk communities across Tunisia and the Maghreb region. The booth highlights inclusive, community-led approaches to addressing cyberviolence, with tools, case insights, and real-world practices designed to make digital spaces safer and more accessible.
De|Center	De|Center	The De|Center works with decentered communities to make concrete changes to technology tools that address systemic injustice and advance human rights. They do research and documentation with marginalized and criminalized communities globally, and translate their insights into concrete recommendations for changes to tech products and features. Stop by and explore opportunities for collaboration.
DT Institute, VPN, Datacasting, Off Grid Communications	DT Institute	DT Institute will showcase their cutting edge VPN, a cool datacasting method to send content to millions even during internet shutdowns,. They will also demo a comprehensive information distribution and communications apparatus that they have put together for environments of high persistent threat that may be completely offline.
Fear on the Net: How the Venezuelan Internet Broke After the Elections.	VE sin Filtro Conexion Segura y Libre	"The Networks of Control report and Beyond" documents the most dramatic escalation in digital repression in Latin America: Venezuela. The team will share details and research that couldn't be shared publicly, and how they collected this evidence - -from real-time network tests to OSINT. Space will be created to discuss tools, tactics, and what comes next. The post-election crisis in Venezuela has marked a breaking point, with digital repression becoming the norm: blocking apps like Signal, X, TikTok, YouTube (and now targeting WhatsApp), silencing transparency efforts, persecuting activists, excluding opposition candidates, and manipulating voting data. Case studies will reveal how social media posts led to arrests, and how tactics such as drones, doxxing, viralized arrests, and device searches were used to intimidate protesters and civil society.
From Surveillance to Safety: Community-Driven Approaches to Digital Accountability in South Asia	Digital Rights Foundation	This booth will serve as an interactive community space that explores South Asia's evolving digital landscape while serving as a meeting points for individuals working in digital rights in South Asia. Additionally, learn about DRF's Surveillance Accountability Initiative, which monitors and documents the use of surveillance technologies in Pakistan and the broader region, spotlighting the need for democratic oversight and transparency. Participants can also engage with DRF's Digital Security Helpline, South Asia's dedicated support service for online violence, and hear about anonymized case studies, digital safety games, and hands-on demos of DRF's protection tools and resources. DRF will also provide materials and mini-lessons on Platform Accountability, policy advocacy, content moderation, data governance, and AI governance.
Horizontal	Horizontal	Horizontal support activists, journalist and human right defenders with technology and trainings. Stop by their booth to see the demos of their two flagship products: a) - Tella (https://tella-app.org/): a free, open source tool to encrypt and hide files in your phone, and collect and share data even with limited or no internet connectivity or in the face of repression. b) Shira (https://shira.app/): a web app to help users develop the skills needed to identify and defeat phishing attacks on email and messaging apps.. They would also love to get your feedback and requests for their apps, and can share more deeply on how they support organizations and activists!
Software for Digitalized Communities, Citizens, Digital Devices: IdHub for Decentralized Identity and Verifiable Credentials, Workbench and DeviceHub for Inventory and Passports for Second-Hand Computers	Pangea.org eReuse.org	Since 2023, IdHub has developed a digital identity management system that pools and shares infrastructure for the management and cost-sharing of digital open content services. They addresses the need for more decentralized, verifiable, secure, privacy-respecting, and user-friendly ways to manage identity-related information for authentication, authorization, and accreditation. IdHub is open-source source and is developed by a community of activists. The primary technologies implemented include Decentralized Identifiers, Verifiable Credentials and OpenID Connect technologies within common credential schemas defined their communities. It follows the EBSI model. These technologies allow for creating a trust chain that brings significant benefits to our communities.Stop by to give your feedback and learn how to contribute.
JOSA	JOSA	Come and meet the JOSA team to explore how open-source tools and techniques can help strengthen civil society and protect vulnerable groups online. The booth will feature simple demonstrations, including how to hide information inside files, analyze and remove metadata, and securely delete sensitive content. Visitors will also discover how phishing attacks work and how organizations can test awareness, as well as how much information can be uncovered from public sources. The JOSA team will be on hand to guide participants, answer questions, and share resources that can be directly applied in daily work and activism.
Logic(s) Magazine	Logic(s) Magazine	As the first queer Black and Asian tech magazine, Logic(s) is committed to interrogating the technologies (re)making our world, providing thoughtful analysis and centering the voices under constant threat of erasure, and yet essential to thinking about technology. They will be distributing sample copies of their most recent issues, and offering individual and institutional subscriptions and memberships.
Measurement Lab and the Internet Quality Barometer	Measurement Lab Internet Quality Barometer	Founded in 2009, Measurement Lab (M-Lab) is an open platform for studying  Internet performance and neutrality over time. M-Lab recently completed the first phase of the Internet Quality Barometer project, and published the IQB Framework in June 2025. The IQB project seeks to redefine internet quality beyond the single metric of speed by using available data. As M-Lab continues the IQB project to build a tool to score Internet quality, we are also interested in exploring ways to score Internet freedom with existing data. Come by our booth and share your thoughts!
Mobile Forensics and Mobile Auditing with SocialTIC	SocialTIC Datávoros	Learn about the methodologies and resources SocialTic uses to perform mobile forensics and mobile application audits. These resources are designed to be open, collaborative, and community-oriented.
NGI0 Infopoint & Spring Coaching	APC	Stop by the APC Village (Booth 7) to learn more!
No Safe Words: Rights-Based Perspectives on SRHR Censorship and Resistance	inroads No Safe Words	AlgoSpeak, or 'algorithmic speak' are words used to circumvent algorithms used to monitor, block, delete, or suppress certain words that can be deemed inappropriate, taboo, sensitive, or vulgar, across many digital systems. AlgoSpeak.net was formed in response to this suppression, and aims to be a useful resource for sharing language that is less-likely to prompt suspension when discussing SRHR topics on various platforms. This booth will provide an interactive space to learn about what algospeak is, test out algospeak.net, and contribute to the algospeak library. Most importantly, it will provide an opportunity to discuss, reflect and share how this next era of AI-driven online content moderation will not only impact access to critical content in online spaces, but will also influence, shape, and challenge the offline-online public discourse(s) and policies that underpin equity, representation, and justice.
Numun Fund	Numun Fund	Numun Fund is the first dedicated fund for feminist tech in, and for the Larger Majority World. They seed and sustain feminist technology infrastructure for movement organising, and understand digital technologies to be an important part of movement infrastructure. They will be setting up an interactive, hang out space for feminist tech activists and allies to get to know and learn from each other, imagine and co-conspire on how we can organise around feminist tech - in the spirit and politics of play. There will be some huddle sessions happening, with topics ranging from infrastructure sharing, and resourcing and sustainability in feminist tech organising, including co-design sessions on a solidarity economy idea they are cooking.
Psychological First Aid: Tools for Care and Connection by Vita Activa	Vita Activa	Participants will partake in guided discussion, role-play, and reflective practices to be introduced to Psychological First Aid (PFA) - tools for care and connection created by Vita Activa. Learn how to recognize distress, offer immediate support, and connect peers with further resources. This booth will provide opportunities to participants to engage in guided discussions, role-play, and reflective practices so they can obtain concrete skills they can apply in spaces, activist contexts, and everyday life.
Open Source Design Collective	Open Source Design	Come and learn about what the volunteers at Open Source Design (OSD) do, and what they have supported over the collective's 10+years of existing. They will also offer a 'Design/Usability/UX/UI clinic' where you can bring your open source projects to speak about your design and usability needs. Questions they can support you with include: How to plan for a design project in OSS? Where is their funding available? What does openness and transparency look like in design? How can an OSS project learn from what other OSD designers in the network have produced? And of course, how to get involved as a maintainer or contributor as we evolve and grow the practice of design in OSS.
Operator Foundation	Operator Foundation	Operator Foundation, which develops open source software and hardware to support Internet freedom globally, will showcase open source secure communications hardware they have developed in the last 10 years. This includes tools for encrypted communication using satellites and radios during complete Internet shutdowns, as well as a tool developed to defeat the AI-based voiceprint identification being used to stop journalists from calling sources.
Palestine Booth	Solidarity Network of Palestinians and Allies	As the  US-Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and across Palestine is reaching its two year mark, we continue to witness Western powers' unconditional material support for it.  In this booth, participants can learn about how to understand the genocide, the 77 years of ethnic cleansing and occupation, and explore how to engage their work more meaningfully in this topic. This space will also honor the lives of Palestinian martyrs, raise funds for trusted partners in Gaza, and run numerous Tatreez (embroidery) sessions to inspire conversations about solidarity through collective weaving. Most importantly, this cause will be intersected with other contexts of digital military warfare, to be in solidarity and collectively imagine what resistance against tech-assisted imperialism can look like.
Power to Voices	Oxfam Novib Power to Voices	Power to Voices is a digital platform designed with and for activists, movements, and rights defenders to connect, learn, collaborate, and organize in a space that centers safety, inclusion, and collective power amidst the increasing risky digital organizing environment. It's where communities of practice live, campaigns grow, and ideas are documented and shared. From learning spaces and resource hubs to group discussions and action planning. A home for sustained organizing in the digital age
Preserving Truth, Reclaiming Power - How to use Save by OpenArchive to get the boot off our necks ✊🏿✊🏾🤘🏽✊	OpenArchive Save	People armed with mobile devices are history's first responders, documenting world events and amassing evidentiary records of injustice. SAVE by OpenArchive helps them Secure(ly) Archive,Verify, and Encrypt their crucial evidence. This will be a participatory demo where participants can foster strategic partnerships with those interested in learning how to use SAVE and other tactics to help their communities safely record and preserve their evidentiary media.
Rise Against Big Tech (by in.fra.red)	in.fra.red Rise Against Big Tech	Check out the newly launched Rise Against Big Tech (#rabt) campaign to help organizations and individuals transition to more autonomous services. Stop by to see educational and technical materials of the campaign, provide the team with feedback, or get answers to your questions regarding how to move away from big tech.
Secure Storyteller Network: Protecting Stories, Protecting Storytellers	Secure Storyteller Network	A meditation sound bath will be held from 16:30–17:30. Limited spaces available. Please contact SSN by 15:30 to reserve a spot, or arrive early. This interactive booth offers hands-on digital security support tailored for filmmakers, artists, and content creators working in high-risk environments. Drop by with your questions, hear frontline stories, set up client-side encryption tools on your phone, and design your own creative protection plan. Most uniquely, pause for a mini sound bath with aTibetan singing bowl-let calmness stabilise resilience and help turn vulnerability into strength.
SMEX / Bread & Net	SMEX	Curious about the people behind SMEX? Come meet the stellar team fighting for stronger digital rights across West Asia and North Africa! Stop by our booth for one-on-one guidance on digital safety and security, with tailored support for Arabic-speakers, offered by SMEX’s Digital Forensics Lab. We’d also love to tell you all about Bread&Net, the region’s largest digital rights event taking place next month in Beirut!
South Asia Village: Resisting Digital Injustice, Building Collective Resilience	Digital Rights Foundation	The South Asia Village booth is a collaborative regional space spotlighting community-led responses to digital authoritarianism, shrinking civic space, and corporate impunity across South Asia. Curated by Digital Rights Foundation and Digital Accountability Collective South Asia (DACSA), the South Asia Village will also serve as a collaborative hub to facilitate knowledge exchange and solidarity among South Asian activists, researchers, and technologists. Stop by to learn about South Asian initiatives focused on a wide breadth of topics including spyware accountability, digital security support, platform accountability, AI governance and data justice, among others. The booth will include materials and contributions from regional partners such as Hashtag Generation (Sri Lanka) and Digitally Right (Bangladesh), showcasing shared experiences and strategic differences across national contexts. Additionally, findings from upcoming regional research will be presented.
The ARISE Accountability Arcade: Feminist and Global South-Led Campaigns for Platform Accountability	Digital Empowerment Foundation - Project ARISE	The ARISE (Accountability and Responsibility in South's Ecosystems) Accountability Arcade is a feminist, Global South-led booth showcasing grounded, community-driven work on platform accountability. ARISE is a network of 50+ renowned organisations from across the Global South working on digital rights, governance, and justice. Digital Empowerment Foundation, the voluntary host of this year's ARISE Secretariat, is proposing this booth on behalf of the community. Through campaign displays, research spotlights, and interactive activities, ARISE members will present how communities across the South are confronting platform harms, algorithmic bias, and digital exclusion. It's a space to exchange strategies, share experiences, and build collective visions for fairer, more accountable digital ecosystems.
The Tor Project & Guardian Project	The Tor Project Guardian Project	Stop by to meet the hosts of the Circumvention Tech Village - The Tor Project and Guardian Project - some of the most loved, respected and impactful tech projects in the digital rights space.
Urgent Action Fund Latin America and the Caribbean	Urgent Action Fund Latin America and the Caribbean	Learn more about Urgent Action Fund Latin America and the Caribbean, a regional feminist fund which contributes to the sustainability and strengthening of activists and their movements, offering quick and agile support in situations of risk and opportunity They support the resistances, struggles and demands of the defenders in the transformation of injustice and inequality systems, putting feminist integral protection and care in the center. They understand that in order to carry out our work, it is vital to think about feminist digital infrastructures from the South that are not privative and that allow us to put care at the center of technologies.
VPN Generator: Get your own VPN here	VPN Generator	VPN Generator lets you run your own VPN hub - you control the connection and decide who joins. It's a VPN for your crew, on your terms. Check out this booth and try two live demos: VPN Generator, where you distribute access to others, protected by a six-word passphrase only you ever see; and VPN Socket, a paid, influencer-branded VPN for instant personal use. See how easy it is to connect and help others bypass censorship and access a safe, private internet.
WITNESS' Deepfake Rapid Response Force and AI Detection for Human Rights Defenders	WITNESS Deepfake Rapid Response Force and AI Detection	WITNESS is known for it's AI detection trainings, either catered to fact-checkers, journalists and other civil society involved in elections, or with civil society facing information environments needing in these skills. The training sessions cover topics such as the capabilities and evolution of generative AI techniques, use of synthetic media in the context of elections, current AI detection approaches and introduction to the work of the Deepfakes Rapid Response Force. Stop by this booth to learn about the harms and benefits in relying on AI detection tools, how to incorporate tools into the fact-checking pipeline, and other research and learnings from the Deep Fake Rapid Response Force.
!*! For Bodily Autonomy and Liberation !*!	Digital Defense Fund	Come gather and take up space for bodily autonomy and liberation! The Digital Defense Fund provides digital security training, evaluations, referrals to trusted service providers, and security grants for organizations and movements. Stop by our booth to pick up digisec tech gear, swag, and snacks.