September 4 2026 Agenda

Day One of the 2026 Global Gathering Agenda   ➤ Next Day

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!!! Please note that the agenda is still being updated !!!!

September 4 Pre-GG Morning Activities | 9:00 - 12:00

These activities occur in the morning, before the start of the Global Gathering

	Satellite Events and RSVP-Required Workshops
	Each morning, we provide space for private satellite events and a handful of workshops that are open to participants, but require you to register before the start of the event. Currently accepting RSVPs for: 09:00 - 11:30: Security for Beginners Workshop 10:00 - 11:30: Interactive TFGBV Networking Salon 10:00 - 11:30: Break into the Firewall: A War Game RPG 10:00 - 11:30: Demystifying End-to-End Encryption ... So You can Better Evaluate Tools for Your Threat Model

	Wellbeing Morning Activities
	Wellbeing Morning Activities take place offsite, before the start of the GG each day, and do not require prior registration. You can also volunteer to host a Wellbeing Morning Activity by following these instructions. 🌸 10:00 - 11:30 Catalyst Coaching Group

September 4 GG Activities | 12:00 - 21:00

	12:00 - 13:00 | Networking Hour and Featured Meetups Each day we host a networking hour at the venue. Take advantage of the many food vendors we have while meeting folks in the digital rights space! This includes a handful of meetups that take place in the venue. 🌿🌿 Regional meetups will take place today! Don't miss them! 🌿🌿
Location	Meetup
	Asia Meetup
	Africa Meetup
	Eastern European and Central Caucasus Meetup
	Latin America Meetup
	North America Meetup
	Russia Meetup
	SWANA Meetup
	Western Europe Meetup

	Circles, Villages and Offsite Meetups You can find detailed Circles, Villages, and Meetup descriptions the end of this page. Please take notes in each Riseup pad linked in each title. Follow these instructions, to organize a Circle in the slots marked "TBD" in the venue OR to organize an offsite afternoon meetup.
Circles, September 4
	13:30 - 14:30	15:00 - 16:00	16:30 - 17:30
Circle 1	Researchers Meetup	Age Verification and Digital Identity Systems: The Mapping and Actors (Part 1)	The Future of DSA: A Global Perspective
Circle 2	Journalism Meetup	Cross-Borders Storytelling: Device Searches, Metadata, and Collective Preparation	We See, We Archive, We Remember: Preserving Digital Evidence Against Erasure
Circle 3	Policy Advocates Meetup	Digital Transnational Repression: Connecting Across Regions	Digital Authoritarianism and Forced Exile: Mapping Experiences and Strategies
Circle 4	Participatory Defense Meetup	How to Design and Build Digital Infrastructure that Works for Your Community	Criminalization Is a Design Condition: Building Most Resilient Tech from the Margins
Circle 5	Influence Operations Investigators Meetup	On the Horizon: AI-enabled Technology and its Gendered Harms	Leaving Big Tech: From Common Blockers to Collective Solutions
Circle 6	OSINT in the Open Meetup	Mobilizing Around Convention 193: The First Global Treaty Establishing Labor Standards for the Platform Economy	Creative Refusal: Experimental Artistic Methods to Radically Refuse Surveillance
Circle 7			Digital Security and AI Meetup
Villages
	13:30 - 14:30	15:00 - 16:00	16:30 - 17:30
Calyx Village	Reserved	Reserved	Clawing Back Your Data in the Age of Social Surveillance
APC Village
Digital Security Village	Security Practioners Meetup	Beyond Borders: How Authoritarian States Use Digital Tactics to Target Diaspora and People in Exile	Auditing AI on the Questions that Matter to You: Learn a Simple, Repeatable Method for Testing How LLMs Handle Politically Contested Topics
Circumvention Tech Village	Technologist Meetup	MANTA: Measuring Tunnel Health in Censored Environments	Working Around Max: Brainstorming Civil-Society Resistance to Russia's State Messaging App
Spyware Village	Spyware Researchers Meetup
Secure Communications Village		How to Approach Community-Rriven Development Beyond Git	Secure Messaging in 2026 and What Comes Next
Regional Views Village		15 Things We Learned from Auditing 15 Brazilian Media Organizations	Advancing Collective Responses to Mis- and Disinformation in the Iran and Palestine Contexts
Queer Rights Village		Tech Justice Promenade: Gathering of LGBTQI+ and Allies	Inappropriate Bodies: Sex Workers & Queer People Pushed to the Digital Margins
Ecosystem Resilience Village		U.S. Foreign Policy and Human Rights: Impacts, Challenges, and Opportunities	How Ops Staff Can Stay Afloat During the Floods
Offsite Meetups	Please note that these meetups are being organized by participants themselves, and the TCU/GG staff have no oversight on these activities.

	Booths, Sept 4 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".
	13:00 - 15:00			15:30 - 17:30
Location	Name	Run by		Name	Run by
Booth 1
Booth 2
Booth 3
Booth 4a
Booth 4b
Booth 5
Booth 6
Booth 7
Booth 8
Booth 9
Booth 10
Booth 11
Booth 12
Booth 13
Booth 14
Booth 15
Booth 16
Booth 17
Booth 18
Booth 19
Booth 21
Booth 22
Booth 57
Booth 79
Booth 80
Booth 81
Booth 82

September 4 Global Gathering After Hours | 18:00 - 21:00

The Digital Rights Drag Show

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Time: 18:00 - 19:00 Location: Center of venue Join us for a night of drag with Valencia and Drive and Billie Gunz . 💖 Valencia Drive -the (Un)official drag queen of the digital rights community - is your commercial-free hotmix of the 80’s, 90’s and today, here to serve you more fashion, more comedy, and more cartoonish nonsense than ever before. Valencia returns to Global Gathering mainstage this year with yet another iconic, legendary, and absolutely flawless performance, proving yet again why she’s your favorite threat model. (Valencia Drive's IG: @thevalenciadrive). 💖 Billie Gunz is a trans masc performing artist based in Porto. Trained in theater, dance and performance art, his drag explores LGTB+ narratives and alternative masculinities in pop culture. The work is usually political, sexy, and camp. He was the co-founder of Casa T Lisboa, and Casa del Carmen (Salamanca-Spain). Both projects center on creating LGBT+ community, mixing activism and art. Currently he is starting a new era as a solo performer.

The Boom Boom Boom P A R T Y Time: 19:00 - 21:00 Location: Center of venue Open the Global Gathering with the energized global sounds of DJ Boom Boom Boom, the most loved AND feared DJ of the digital rights community. Last year, our attempts to dethrone her were thwarted because of alleged intimidation involving bag pipe serenades. We will give it up though - her P A R T I E S are among the best we have ever been to! DJ Boom Boom Boom sounds combine Afro beats, reggaeton, Habibi sounds, Medieval flute trap, and polka remixes of Taylor Swift. This internationally acclaimed DJ has graced laundromats and parking lots across three countries. She is well known outside of the digital rights space for inventing the Bluetooth tambourine, and is considered the greatest mime since Marcel Marceau.

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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
APC Village
Calyx Village
Circumvention Tech Village
Digital Rights Village	Resident NGO, TCU	This is a space for security practitioners and trainers to discuss securing our communities from digital threats from both the ground and the tech
Ecosystem Resilience Village
Regional Views Village
Secure Communications Village
Spyware Village
Queer Rights Village

Circle and/or Meetup Title	Description
15 Things We Learned from Auditing 15 Brazilian Media Organizations	What happens when 15 newcomers to the SAFETAG auditing methodologies are trained to perform their own assessments and then hit the road to audit 15 independent Brazilian media organisations? Join an implementer, two auditors, and a funder who will share their experience as a starting point for the discussion of what happened when a structured auditor-training model met the messy realities of small, resource-constrained newsrooms. Participants will share their similar experiences using SAFETAG and any best practices or lessons they also picked up along the way.
Age Verification and Digital Identity Systems: The Mapping and Actors (Part 1)	This is part 1 of a two part Circle focused on Age Verification and digital Identify Systems Digital Identity systems and age verification requirements are being rolled out in many countries across the world. In this Circle, participants highlight the work of the digital rights organizations and coalitions working in this area, as well as mapping what people are seeing on the ground in different regions. Together, they will explore how privacy-washing appears in technical and policy proposals, how these systems function in practice, and the impacts they have on communities—particularly those most at risk. Additionally, they will share research, including  hearing from Karisma's research on the Colombian digital ID card developed by IDEMIA - the same company that produces the EU digital wallet. They will also have an opportunity to connect with members of the HR41D coalition, a network of human rights defenders actively working on digital identity and age verification issues. This  CIrcle will be followed up by a CIrcle on day three, focused on strategizing collectively around what harm-reduction pathways civil society and technologists can push for.
Advancing Collective Responses to Mis- and Disinformation in the Iran and Palestine Contexts	Mis- and disinformation surrounding the human rights situations in Iran and Palestine continue to shape public understanding, influence policy debates, and affect the work of the civil society. This circle will bring together journalists, researchers, technologists, and advocates, lawyers to discuss shared challenges, identify gaps, and exchange strategies for responding to these information threats. Together, participants will explore opportunities for collaboration and develop ideas for collective action and future coordination.
Auditing AI on the Questions that Matter to You: Learn a Simple, Repeatable Method for Testing How LLMs Handle Politically Contested Topics	AI models differ meaningfully in whether they mirror or resist state-aligned framing. In this hands-on Circle, participants run live tests across multiple models and leave with a reproducible audit methodology using AI analysis tool AIdas. The goal is to help participants replicate and extend an AI research methodology in their own contexts.
Africa Meetup	Connect with individuals actively working in the African region. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn from diverse African projects, gain valuable insights, and expand your professional network. This meetup is designed to foster meaningful connections and enrich the Africa digital rights community.
Asia Meetup	Connect with individuals actively working in the Asia region. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn from diverse Asian projects, gain valuable insights, and expand your professional network. This meetup is designed to foster meaningful connections and enrich the Asian digital rights community.
Beyond Borders: How Authoritarian States Use Digital Tactics to Target Diaspora and People in Exile	Across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and beyond, authoritarian governments are using increasingly sophisticated digital tactics to surveil, harass, and discredit activists and organizations operating outside their borders. This Circle draws on documented cases from Belarus, including fake Telegram bots, AI-generated deepfakes, fabricated hack narratives, and financial doxxing, as entry points for a broader cross-regional exchange about how these tactics are evolving and what patterns emerge when you look across different country contexts.
Clawing Back Your Data in the Age of Social Surveillance	Participants will discuss what it means to participate in social media and online networks in 2026. Together, they will explore questions such as: Under what circumstances is sharing information on the social—and non-social—web important? What does deletion mean in a digital context, and when is it critical? They will also examine the power of backing up and preserving information as a form of speaking truth to power in digital spaces where surveillance, censorship, and platform control can be used to shape, edit, or erase narratives from critical voices.
Creative Refusal: Experimental Artistic Methods to Radically Refuse Surveillance	This circle brings together people interested in exploring artistic methods to challenge surveillance in public spaces, online, during protests, and in everyday life. Participants will engage with low-tech creative practices, techniques, and visual imagery that can be used to resist surveillance and demand structural transformation. The circle will also raise critical questions about when and why visibility is used to document injury. The conversation draws its starting examples from Queer African communities: Adventures of the Witch's Garden (AWG), a game built from stories of how queer Africans navigate tech surveillance, and Making Space for the Unkind,  a speculative visual novel that interrogates the systems sustaining both digital infrastructures and extractive economies.
Criminalization Is a Design Condition: Building Most Resilient Tech from the Margins	Design from the Margins starts from a simple premise: the people most targeted by surveillance, censorship, policing, borders, and platform abuse are the people who can teach us how to design and build safer technology for everyone. Participants will discuss how criminalization can be used as a design condition and the understandings being built into it - turning lived harms and human rights documentation into concrete requirements for surveillance-resistant tools, safer defaults, alternative infrastructure, and tech that serves people, not power.
Cross-Borders Storytelling: Device Searches, Metadata, and Collective Preparation	Border crossings can transform phones, laptops and media archives into sources of risk for storytellers and the communities they document, particularly as border authorities in some jurisdictions gain wider powers to inspect digital devices and may seek access to cloud-based data. This Circle seeks to share and compare experiences of device searches and metadata scrutiny across regions, while exploring holistic preparation involving digital, legal, physical, cultural and psychosocial considerations.
Digital Authoritarianism and Forced Exile: Mapping Experiences and Strategies	This Circle examines digital authoritarianism as a direct driver of displacement and exile. Participants will map shared experiences across regions, and explore collective strategies and mutual support mechanisms to address common challenges and threats.
Digital Security and AI Meetup	Developments in AI are creating intensifying existing threats, and creating new threats, to the digital security of at-risk users. At the same time, interesting opportunities are emerging for privacy and security friendly alternatives. This circle will provide a space for participants to co-strategise on how civil society should respond to threats and opportunities at the intersection of AI and digital security
Digital Transnational Repression: Connecting Across Regions	This meetup brings together practitioners working on digital transnational repression (TNR) to exchange experiences, compare emerging trends, and strengthen collaboration across regions. While TNR often appears as a series of isolated incidents affecting specific countries or communities, many of these cases reflect common tactics, shared methods, and recurring patterns employed by different states against diaspora and exile communities. Recent exchanges among practitioners highlighted the value of looking beyond individual country contexts. Thus, we hope to do just that, and identify common patterns, exchange practical lessons, compare tactics, and build stronger connections and continued collaborations across networks, regions and organizations.
Eastern European and Central Caucasus Meetup	Connect with individuals actively working in the Eastern European and Central Caucasus region. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn from diverse Eastern European and Central Caucasus projects, gain valuable insights, and expand your professional network. This meetup is designed to foster meaningful connections and enrich the Eastern European and Central Caucasus digital rights community.
How Ops Staff Can Stay Afloat During the Floods	Funding cuts, staff layoffs, and ongoing uncertainty are forcing organizations to do more with less. During this circle, participants will share honest struggles with maintaining efficient, resilient operations, and will come away with collectively shared tactics and strategies that have been successful to stay functional, even during high stress periods.
How to Approach Community-Rriven Development Beyond Git	Participants will discuss approaches to let software development be driven by users, even those without technical know-how or git knowledge. What can we learn from Community activation/building tools developed in activist circles? How can we maintain bidirectional and value-based community connections?
How to Design and Build Digital Infrastructure that Works for Your Community	Communities can own and govern their own digital infrastructure! This Circle is for anyone trying to connect their community to the internet, or build or adapt communication platforms to serve their communities needs. Come hear little-known successes, exchange honest lessons, and identify shared needs to strengthen community-owned infrastructure.
Inappropriate Bodies: Sex Workers & Queer People Pushed to the Digital Margins	Surveillance, erasure, and censorship have always been a day-to-day to the sex worker community. In this circle, we invite digital rights activists, moderators, developers, and other sex workers to discuss the impact and the harm of these issues and how we can come together to build an Internet rooted in collective liberation.
Influence Operations Investigators Meetup	A space for people who research and track influence operations across different regions to meet, connect, and build trust. Many of us investigate influence operations in relative isolation, often under risk, and rarely get to meet peers facing similar challenges. This meetup is a chance to put faces to names, share where we are working and what we are up against, and lay the groundwork for ongoing cross-regional collaboration that continues well beyond the GG. We especially want to connect investigators from underrepresented regions, including the Global South, where influence operations are often under-documented but increasingly consequential.
Journalism Meetup	Connect with other journalists and media professionals in the digital rights field. This is a fantastic opportunity to foster meaningful connections, share your concerns and seek support, and expand your professional network.
Latin America Meetup	Connect with individuals actively working in the Latin America region. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn from diverse Latin American projects, gain valuable insights, and expand your professional network. This meetup is designed to foster meaningful connections and enrich the Latin America digital rights community.
Leaving Big Tech: From Common Blockers to Collective Solutions	Making the case for moving away from Big Tech is one thing, but actually doing it is another. In this circle, we'll bring together organisations and individuals at different stages of their transition to share what has worked, what hasn't and what's still getting in the way. Whether you're trying to build internal consensus, in the middle of a technical migration, or already on the other side and looking to support others, this is a space to map out shared challenges and leave with some good next steps.
MANTA: Measuring Tunnel Health in Censored Environments	An in-person gathering to present and discuss MANTA (Manifold Analysis of Network Tunnel Anomalies) with co-designers, implementors and aligned projects interested in measuring tunnel health in censored environments.
Mobilizing Around Convention 193: The First Global Treaty Establishing Labor Standards for the Platform Economy	This June, the International Labour Organization adopted Convention 193, the first binding global treaty establishing labor standards for the platform economy. The Convention addresses key issues including worker classification, algorithmic transparency, and social protection. While this marks a significant milestone, much work remains to ensure its effective implementation. This Circle will explore key dimensions of the Convention, including digital rights, automated decision-making, worker surveillance, and access to effective remedies. Participants will discuss how these provisions can be translated into national ratification and implementation strategies, as well as identify strategic entry points for advocacy, coalition-building, and stakeholder engagement.
North America Meetup	Connect with individuals actively working in the North American region. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn from diverse North American projects, gain valuable insights, and expand your professional network. This meetup is designed to foster meaningful connections and enrich the North American digital rights community.
On the Horizon: AI-enabled Technology and its Gendered Harms	With the steady increase in AI-powered technologies all around the world, the digital rights landscape is changing and with it so are online harms especially to women and young girls. This circle aims to discuss the impact of AI tools, software and technologies on how women access, use, and take part in online spaces. By leveraging research studies on gendered disinformation from the region, this circle will map our the real harms to communities across Global South through AI-powered technologies and surveillance.
OSINT in the Open Meetup	OSINT practitioners share methods and missions but rarely get to share a room. This meetup is a dedicated space for open-source intelligence professionals to meet, swap stories, and build the kind of relationships that make the work more sustainable and less lonely.
Participatory Defense Meetup	This meetup is for people working on participatory defense and advocacy for individuals who have been imprisoned-to share strategies, tactics, and build up a stronger network for defense.
Policy Advocates Meetup	Connect with individuals working at the intersection of policy and digital rights. This event offers a unique opportunity to learn from fellow policy advocates from across the world, and learn about current policy initiatives related to the impact of technology on human rights.
Researchers Meetup	Connect with fellow researchers investigating digital rights topics and subjects such as internet freedom, security and technology. Participants will share insights, discuss recent findings, and explore emerging trends in the field. Whether you're a seasoned researcher or new to the field, this meetup provides a supportive environment to enhance your work and impact.
Russia Meetup	Connect with individuals actively working in Russia This is a fantastic opportunity to learn from diverse Russian projects, gain valuable insights, and expand your professional network. This meetup is designed to foster meaningful connections and enrich the Russian digital rights community.
Secure Messaging in 2026 and What Comes next	Participants will discuss what secure messaging looks like in 2026-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.
Security Practioners Meetup	Meet security practioners from around the world - from cybersecurity professionals conducting audits to digital security trainers. Whether you’re looking to share your expertise, learn from others, or expand your professional network, this Circle is a great place to learn about new developments, and find opportunities for collaboration.
Spyware Researchers Meetup
SWANA Meetup	Connect with individuals actively working in the SWANA region. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn from diverse SWANA projects, gain valuable insights, and expand your professional network. This meetup is designed to foster meaningful connections and enrich the SWANA digital rights community.
Tech Justice Promenade: Gathering of LGBTQI+ and allies	This meetup provides a strategic space for LGBTQI+ technologists, policymakers, digital rights activists, and allies to connect and build actionable pathways for increasing queer representation in the global tech ecosystem and examining the rapid expansion of Artificial intelligence. strategising on how our communities can move from passive consumers of these technologies to critical operators who can shape its future and counter algorithmic bias.
Technologist Meetup	Meet technologists from across the world who are working in digital rights, or in other public interest technology areas. Whether you’re looking to share your expertise, learn from others, or expand your professional network, this Circle is a great place to learn about new developments, and find opportunities for collaboration.
The Future of DSA: A Global Perspective	This circle is designed for current and prospective DSA Human Rights Alliance members to discuss pressing issues in platform regulation at the EU level, the regulatory implications of EU regulation beyond its borders, and how broader regional perspectives can be incorporated into Alliance's activities. Building on the Principles for a Human-Rights Centered Application of the DSA: A Global Perspective, published earlier this year, participants will strategize on advocacy approaches to maximize the impact of the Principles and to envision the Alliance's future in the shrinking civil society space.
U.S. Foreign Policy and Human Rights: Impacts, Challenges, and Opportunities	Participants will discuss the dramatic shift of U.S. government foreign policy since 2024 - from the gutting of foreign aid, firing of internet freedom staff, and deepening politicization of human rights policy. The discussion will center on how this shift has impacted human rights defenders around the world, challenges to engaging with the US administration, and potential efforts and opportunities that may still exist through 2028.
Working Around Max: Brainstorming Civil-Society Resistance to Russia's State Messaging App	Max is a state-backed messaging and government-services app from Russia's VK Group that became mandatory to pre-install on smartphones sold in Russia from September 2025, and is increasingly required to reach government services there and in Russian-occupied Ukraine. Drawing on InterSecLab's technical analysis of how Max detects and blocks VPNs, collects user data, and monitors in-app behavior, this Circle brings participants together to assess existing circumvention approaches and brainstorm new ones. Whether you are a journalist, lawyer, dissident, queer person, or VPN developer connected to Russia, have friends and family there, or simply want to lend your brainpower to internet freedom, you are welcome.
We See, We Archive, We Remember: Preserving Digital Evidence Against Erasure	Participants will discuss how public-interest information can be preserved when states, platforms, or legal systems make evidence disappear. Drawing on archival work from Hong Kong, China, Iran, Palestine, and other contexts, the discussion will focus on censorship, surveillance, transnational repression, platform takedowns, and the preservation of digital evidence of human rights violations. Participants will compare practical approaches to resilient preservation while examining safety, ethics, verification, access, and long-term stewardship.
Western Europe Meetup	Connect with individuals actively working in the Western European region. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn about different projects, gain valuable insights, and expand your professional network. This meetup is designed to foster meaningful connections and enrich the Western European digital rights community.

Booth Descriptions

Booth	Run by	Booth Description