September 8 2025 Agenda

Day one of the 2025 Global Gathering Agenda | Next Day >

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Join us for good food and music

12:00 to 13:00

Global Gathering Meet and Greet Brunch

Complimentary brunch bites, networking, and opening remarks. Join us for good food, music, and make connections!

	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:

	Circles and Villages You can find detailed Circle descriptions the end of this page. You can also organize your own self-organized Circle or Booth in the empty spaces (marked SOC TBD) by following these instructions.
Circles, September 8
Location	13:30 - 14:30	15:00 - 16:00	16:30 - 17:30
Circle 1		Digital Rights X Climate Justice: Meet Up!	Digital Rights in Portugal: Where Do We Go From Here?
Circle 2
Circle 3	Africa Meetup	Security Practioners Meetup	AI Accountability in Practice: Centering Community Voices
Circle 4	Western Europe Meetup	Gathering the Gatherers	Tackling Misinformation Through Open Tools and Civic Literacy
Circle 5			Bridging Borders: Building Resilience Against Cross-Border Cyber Threats
Circle 6		Journalism Meetup	Remote Team Cohesion Best Practices
Villages, September 8
Location	13:30 - 14:30	15:00 - 16:00	16:30 - 17:30
APC Village (Booth 7)
Calyx Village (Booth 9)	North America Meetup	Researchers Meetup	ED Meetup
Circumvention Tech Village (Booth 12)		Technologist Meetup	Update on Censorship Circumvention Methods at Tor
Open Measurement Gathering (OMG) Village (Booth 17)	Are You My Measurement Tool?	Fighting Internet Censorship: Challenges and Needs	Internet Measurement Wish List
Digital Rights Sustainability Village (Main Stage)		Imaginaries Futures (Part 1)	Brainstorm on Alternative Funding Models (part 1)
Regional Topics A (Booth 21)	Latin America Meetup		In the Face of Crises, Digital Care and Support for Sustainable Activism in Latin America
Regional Topics B (Booth 22)	Asia Meetup		Hong Kong Meetup
Digital Crossroads: EU Rules, Regional Realities (Booth 79)	Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Caucasus (EECAC) Meetup	Policy Advocates Meetup
SWANA Village (Booth 81)	SWANA Meetup		Words & Actions - Digital Rights Status in the WANA region

	Booths You can find detailed Booths & Villages 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 8
	13:00 - 15:00			15:30 - 17:30
Location	Name	Run by		Name	Run by
Booth 4a				Feminist Helplines Community Booth	Feminist Helplines Community
Booth 4b	Amnezia VPN	Amnezia VPN		Amnezia VPN	Amnezia VPN
Booth 5				Dash Chat - Resilient Messenger for Internet Shutdowns	Darksoil Studio
Booth 6				MaadiX	MaadiX
(APC Village) Booth 7	APC Village	APC		APC Village	APC
Booth 8	Article 19 & Yubico	Article 19 & Yubico		Article 19 & Yubico	Article 19 & Yubico
(Calyx Village) Booth 9	Calyx Village	Calyx Institute		Calyx Village	Calyx Institute
Booth 10				Experience it! New Ways to Teach PGP, Anti-Censorship and Shutdown Preparedness	Conexion Segura y Libre
Booth 11
(Circumvention Tech Village) Booth 12	Tor Project & Guardian Project	Tor Project & Guardian Project		Tor Project & Guardian Project	Tor Project & Guardian Project
Booth 13				Rise Against Big Tech (by in.fra.red)	Cloud68.co
Booth 14	Digital Defense Fund	Digital Defense Fund		Digital Defense Fund	Digital Defense Fund
Booth 15	Digital Safety Clinic	Access Now		Digital Safety Clinic	Access Now
Booth 16				Qubes OS	Qubes OS
(Open Measurement Gathering (OMG) Village) Booth 17	Internet Outage Detection and Analysis (IODA)	IODA		Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)	Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
Booth 18				Open Data Editor - What did we learn when integrating the AI feature?	Open Knowledge Foundation
Booth 19				ReCIPE for Digital Rights	Oxfam, ReCIPE Project
(Regional Conversations A) Booth 21				Escuela Común + Red Abya Yala	Sutty worker owned co-op
(Regional Conversations B) Booth 22				SFLC.in : Promoting Open Knowledge, Free Speech, Online Privacy, Innovation & Equality	SFLC.IN - Softwware Freedom Law Center
Booth 78				Leadership and Financial Resilience Coaching Support	Spring Strategies
Digital Crossroads: EU Rules, Regional Realities Booth 79
Booth 80				Horizontal	Horizontal
(SWANA Village) Booth 81
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	Join us for music and socializing in our beautiful venue.

Partners

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

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Circle Descriptions

Circle Title	Circle Description
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.
AI Accountability in Practice: Centering Community Voices	Understanding and evaluating Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems and their societal impact is rarely rooted in the experiences, perspectives, and concerns of impacted communities and advocacy/rights groups. This Circle invites participants to share ideas and practices for advancing accountability and reducing harms in digital systems that affect their communities. Together, we will explore advocacy techniques and strategies for contesting AI systems, holding them to account, and protecting those most at risk.
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.
Bridging Borders: Building Resilience Against Cross-Border Cyber Threats	Security practitioners will discuss how cross-border cyberattacks and data breaches are impacting CSOs, as cybercriminal groups exploit regional vulnerabilities, such as weak cybersecurity policies and inconsistent threat monitoring, to launch sophisticated multi-jurisdictional attacks that range from ransomware campaigns to state-sponsored espionage. We will also discuss building regional alliances to improve real-time intelligence sharing, coordinate incident response and, ideally, develop harmonized cybersecurity frameworks - ensuring that our defenses are as interconnected as the threats we face.
Brainstorm on Alternative Funding Models (part 1)	This is part 1 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.
Digital Rights in Portugal: Where do We go from Here?	This Circle is a precious opportunity to touch base and network among all Portugal-based activists, share updates regarding our collective agendas, and start conversations about our priorities in the near future.
Digital Rights X Climate Justice: Meet Up!	Connect with participants working at the intersection of climate justice and digital rights. Individuals will share updates on their work and lessons learned; celebrate wins, and explore ways to better collaborate across continents and movements. Additionally, participants will take stock of global developments, and chart steps forward. Anyone engaged in digital climate justice is welcomed—whether combating climate disinformation, advancing sustainable digital infrastructure, protecting climate defenders, or addressing migration challenges linked to climate change.
ED Meetup	If you are an Executive Directors managing an organization, this is a fantastic opportunity to foster meaningful connections with other EDs, share your concerns, and seek support.
Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Caucasus Meetup (EECC) Meetup	Connect with individuals actively working in the EECCA region. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn from diverse EECCA projects, gain valuable insights, and expand your professional network. This meetup is designed to foster meaningful connections and enrich the EECCA digital rights community.
Gathering the Gatherers	If you play a facilitator role in your community or movement, this Circle is for you! This includes community organisers, trainers, facilitators, and people who are often asked to hold space for others to negotiate conflict in their groups. Come share your experience, discuss challenges, and explore ways to adapt to the ever-changing realities of our communities and movements......while finding meaningful ways to sustain and support each other.
Imaginaries Futures (Part 1)	This is part 1 of a two part Circle series. Participants will explore how the current financial system shapes both possibilities and limitations for funding. Through guided collective inquiry and speculative ideation, participants will examine structural barriers, map dependencies, and reflect on the governance of financial flows. Rather than offering ready-made solutions, the Circle creates space for imagining new funding architectures - grounded in solidarity, care, and resistance t- could support more just and resilient futures. This is an exploratory phase for developing a shared language, identifying questions, and exploring potential directions for building alternative financial realities.
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.
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.
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.
Remote Team Cohesion Best Practices	Participants will surface the challenges related to working in a remote team, and then share learnings and best tips to overcome those challenges. Collectively, participants will also compile a list of best practices to share with each others and the broader field.
Researchers Meetup	Connect with fellow researchers investigating topics and subjects in digital rights, internet freedom, security and technology. This space offers a space to 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.
Security Practioners Meetup	Meet security practioners from around the world. Whether you are a cybersecurity professional conducting audits, or a digital security trainer, this is a great opportunity to meet security enthusiasts and get updates on new trends and issues in the field, while sharing your knowledge.
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.
Tackling Misinformation Through Open Tools and Civic Literacy	Explore how open source tools can empower communities to combat misinformation, deepen media literacy, and foster civic collaboration. Together, participants will: Share open-source applications that identify message similarity, detect false content, and support real-time response coordination across regions; Analyze how media outlets frame information, and build practical skills in fact-checking and critical reading, with a focus on emerging platforms; Explore strategies for civic engagement using cooperative platforms that support collaborative image and text analysis, inviting participants to practice co-creating knowledge with strangers. This Circle is open to both beginners and advanced experts.
Technologist Meetup	Meet technologists from across the world who are working in digital rights, or in public interest technology. 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.
Update on Censorship Circumvention Methods at Tor	Tor Project will share updates on how their circumvention tools are performing and highlight the recent censorship trends they are seeing around the world, including in countries like China and Russia. This Circle is designed as a conversation with the community regarding these latest events and to discuss how we can work together to continue to fight censorship online
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.
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 workshop designed to guide you through which Internet measurement tool you need. 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.
In the Face of Crises, Digital Care and Support for Sustainable Activism in Latin America	Activists, human rights and land defenders in Latin America face multiple crises and threats today, many of these are facilitated by technology. How are we responding, and addressing them from a place of care? What are the implications of our work?
Fighting Internet Censorship: Challenges and Needs	What challenges have you encountered in monitoring, reporting, or advocating against internet censorship? How can the internet measurement community better support your efforts? Join this session to share your experiences, explore common obstacles, and discuss practical needs to strengthen global monitoring and response to internet censorship.
Internet Measurement Wish List	If internet measurement projects like OONI, IODA, M-Lab, or Censored Planet could offer you anything — what would be on your wish list? What features, data, or tools do you wish you had to better monitor internet censorship? Join this interactive brainstorming session to share your ideas, needs, and feedback.
Words & Actions - Digital Rights Status in the WANA region	This circle is an invitation for participants from North Africa and West Asia to share their words about the current status and challenges of digital rights in the region and share their recommended actions that should be taken to tackle these challenges. The output of this session can be used to guide funding strategies, prioritize advocacy efforts, collaborate around new themes to different orgs, alliances and networks interested in the digital rights scene in the region. This session is hosted and facilitated by the members of the MENA Alliance for Digital Rights (MADR)
Hong Kong Meetup	Connect with individuals actively working in Hong Kong. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn from diverse projects in Hong Kong, and gain valuable insights, This meetup is designed to foster meaningful connections and enrich the digital rights community in Hong Kong.

Booth & Village Descriptions

Village	Run by	Village Description
Regional Conversations A
Regional Conversations B
Open Measurement Gathering (OMG) Village	Open Measurement Group (OMG)
Circumvention Technology Village	Tor Project & Guardian Project
SWANA Village
APC Village	APC
Calyx Village	Calyx Institute
Digital Crossroads: EU Rules, Regional Realities	Digital Security Lab Ukraine	The Village focuses on "the "Brussels effect" of novel digital decade acts (platform regulation, AI governance, Anti-SLAPP legislation) and its extensive impact on the communities in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Balkans. Throughout the activities within this event, we will explore the practical challenges and opportunities connected to enhanced regulation of the digital environment and digital tools within the EU legal order. We are particularly interested in discussing the recent increase in SLAPPs and possible channels to tackle this problem both within and outside the EU (particularly, within the countries with a candidate status). Although the Village maintains the regional focus we are strongly encouraging participants from other regions to join us, share experience and insights, as well as learn from the amazing experts invited to speak throughout the event.

Booth	Run by	Booth Description
Internet Outage Detection and Analysis (IODA)	IODA	IODA will showcase a live demo on how to use the IODA dashboard and share their new guides that were developed for less technical users. These resources explain how and when to use IODA, while providing an overview of IODA Signals and the IODA rapid response shutdown protocol. IODA’s booth is part of the Open Measurement Gathering (OMG) Village, which consists of the following projects/organizations: OONI, M-Lab, IODA, Censored Planet, Netalitica, and ​​Project Ainita.
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)	Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)	Since 2012, the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) has built free software tools that empower the public to measure and collect evidence of internet censorship. Today, thanks to the global OONI community, OONI hosts the largest open dataset on internet censorship of its kind. Join this booth to learn all about OONI, ask questions, share feedback, and learn how you can get involved in the global fight against internet censorship!
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.
Dash Chat - Resilient Messenger for Internet Shutdowns	Darksoil Studio	Past by this booth to test Dash Chat on Android and IOS - a FOSS, offline-first, end-to-end encrypted messaging app designed for use in adversarial and/or low-connectivity environments.. You can also test their latest prototype and help shape its development, signup for their pilot and program, and learn insights from their ongoing ongoing research with communities around the world.
MaadiX	MaadiX	MaadiX is a privacy-oriented easy-to-use solution that puts users back in control of their data and communications without the need for technical expertise or large investments. It provides one-click installation and maintenance of free and open source online tools on own servers through an easy and intuitive graphical interface: Mastodon, PeerTube, Tor, OpenVPn, Postfix+Dovecot , Nextcloud, mailman3 , and many others
Experience it! New Ways to Teach PGP, Anti-Censorship and Shutdown Preparedness	Conexion Segura y Libre VE Sin Filtro	Step into this interactive lab and explore creative tools for defending digital right Experience and collaborate on Conexion Segura and Libre's out-of-the box training tools and ati-censorship tools; Try their 3D-printed "toy" to teach the basics of PGP and what's the whole deal keys: the asymmetric lock box; Play a round a card game to teach the nuances of internet censorship; Take a look into their simulations for censorship and shutdown preparedness; And use their anti-censorship tool that uses VPNs but isn't really a VPN: Noticias Sin Filtro
Rise Against Big Tech (by in.fra.red)	Cloud68.co	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.
Digital Safety Clinic	Access Now	Receive direct support from digital security practioners and get your concerns addressed and questions answered. This booth is coordinated by the Access Now and will be joined by other partner organizations and digital security helplines.
Qubes OS	Qubes OS	Qubes OS is a secure operating system for laptop and desktop computers, created with reasonable security in mind: provide a secure environment, but also allow users to use all the applications and tools they need in their lives and work. In this booth, I will be showcasing Qubes OS, providing a test laptop for people to try it out, and a place to discuss how Qubes OS can help with providing a resilient, secure digital environment.
ReCIPE for Digital Rights	Oxfam, ReCIPE Project	ReCIPE (ReCentering the Civic Internet through Partner Engagement) is a three-year, multi-country project led by Oxfam and co-funded by the EU to amplify the voices of Global South civil society organizations on digital rights. The project is being implemented in Bolivia, Cambodia, El Salvador, Kenya, Palestine, Senegal, Somalia, Tunisia, Uganda, and Vietnam. Visit their booth to learn about ongoing activities and research on threats facing vulnerable communities, and analysis of key digital rights laws and policies, including privacy and data protection frameworks. You can also view awareness-raising and capacity-building materials designed for diverse audiences, such as women, youth, platform workers, and journalists.
Escuela Común + Red Abya Yala	Sutty worker owned co-op	Escuela Común (Common School) is a collective initiative focused on strengthening digital autonomy, privacy, and infrastructure in Latin American communitiesthrough open source tools, workshops and peer-to-peer support. They are supported by Red Abya Yala, a network that connects diverse organizations and networks to build sustainable, community-led digital infrastructure and resist surveillance, persecution, and extractivist threats. Stop by to learn about their programs!
SFLC.in : Promoting Open Knowledge, Free Speech, Online Privacy, Innovation & Equality	SFLC.IN - Software Freedom Law Center	This booth is a space to explore and discuss the digital rights landscape in India, and is being lead by SFLC.in - a nonprofit that works at the intersection of tech, law, policy and FOSS, with a focus on advancing digital rights. Stop by to meet their team and discover potential new opportunities for collaboration or knowledge exchange!
Leadership and Financial Resilience Coaching Support	Spring Strategies	Spring Strategies will be hosting a Spring CampFiRE mini-workshop—a facilitated space for participants to engage in dialogue about fundraising, burnout, and navigating leadership in times of uncertainty. For those wishing to go deeper, they are offering individual 45-minute leadership and financial resilience coaching sessions throughout the three days of the event, and can be booked online here: https://www.springstrategies.org/coaching-global-gathering-2025) or directly at the booth. Coaching sessions provide participants with the the space to pause, reflect, process ideas, address financial health questions, and/or explore leadership challenges, practices, and tools.
Feminist Helplines Community Booth	Feminist Helplines Community	Learn about Navegando Libres and FemBloc's work on gender based violence facilitated by technology (GBVFT). Stop by and explore opportunities for collaboration and knowledge-exchange. They will also share knowledge on digital feminist forensic for feminist helpline via a knowledge sharing session. Stop by to share best tips and lessons learned. Navegando Libres, FemBloc
Palestine Booth	Solidarity Network of Palestinians and Allies	The US-Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and across Palestine is approaching its second year, and we are witnessing Western powers' unconditional support for it. This booth will provide space to hold conversations on how to understand the genocide; 77 years of ethnic cleansing and occupation; and how it intersects deeply with our spaces. Most importantly, how we as digital rights activists can and should shape our work to engage meaningfully in this topic. This space will also be used to honor the lives of Palestinian martyrs, and raise funds for trusted partners in Gaza. Additionally, Tatreez (embroidery) sessions will be hosted to inspire conversations about solidarity through collective weaving. This space will also attempt to intersect this cause with other contexts of digital military warfare, and through solidarity, imagine what resistance against tech-assisted imperialism can look like.
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!
Open Data Editor - What did we learn when integrating the AI feature?	Open Knowledge Foundation	Open Knowledge Foundation has a developed a tool that allows non-technical users to detect errors in tables. The app has a local AI integration that has been implemented and designed with insights from their community. This is a great opportunity to meet their team, learn more about the tool, and ask all the questions you may have! They will also be sharing lessons learned when implementing local AI.