Each year, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) brings the global struggle for freedom to the forefront at South by Southwest (SXSW) — one of the world’s largest and most influential gatherings of creators, technologists, and thought leaders in Austin, Texas.
This year, we’ve submitted nine panel proposals featuring activists, artists, and experts tackling the world’s most urgent human rights issues, from political prisoners and encrypted youth resistance to forced labor in fashion and AI surveillance in authoritarian regimes.
Starting today through Saturday, Aug. 24, SXSW’s Panel Picker is open, and your vote plays a key role in deciding which sessions make it to the stage. With your support, HRF will continue to raise awareness, drive impact, and bring new voices into the global movement for human rights at the world’s largest creative conference.
Vibe coding allows individuals without any coding experience to code. It is a paradigm-shifting technological moment where, finally, non-technical users can quickly build websites, apps, event tools, and other digital assets essential for nonprofit operations. This means significant productivity boosts for anyone, and in particular, human rights defenders.
As global hostage-taking by authoritarian regimes increases, governments and civil society are tasked with supporting both detainees and their loved ones. This panel will examine the needs of current and former detainees and their family members, including how to support family advocates and detainees re-entering society after facing the traumatic experience of having been held hostage.
Cultural heritage — the traditions, places, and objects that are passed down through generations and shape a community’s identity — is inextricably linked to human rights. Yet today, it faces mounting threats. Authoritarian regimes around the world deliberately target cultural heritage, not only destroying physical sites, but also erasing histories, silencing communities, and reshaping narratives to serve their own agendas.
Thousands of individuals around the world are currently detained by authoritarian regimes simply because of their beliefs or identities. These individuals are often left without recourse or access to justice because of corruption and broken judicial systems within the state. When domestic systems fail, international courts and semi-judicial organs may fill the gap. This panel will focus on international advocacy for political prisoners, including UN special procedures that could aid in the pursuit of justice.
Fashion is a form of personal expression, a form of storytelling, and a form of art — one that each of us can relate to. But fashion can also be a form of activism. Designers worldwide carefully choose factories and suppliers to ensure they are ethical, both environmentally and socially, but each color, pattern, textile, or material can also be a symbol of human rights. Fashion can serve as a designer’s way of creatively and peacefully dissenting, particularly in the context of living and working in authoritarian regimes.
This session explores the future of Tibet through the lens of ongoing cultural erasure, religious repression, and the Chinese Communist Party’s strategies of control. This panel will examine Tibetan democracy and human rights movements in an era of rising authoritarianism. Drawing parallels with Hong Kong’s crackdown — from education censorship to protest suppression — it will unpack how state tactics evolve and how Tibetans and allies continue to resist.
As authoritarian regimes — from Beijing to Tehran — expand their digital control through AI-powered surveillance, censorship algorithms, and language policing, freedom of expression is under coordinated attack. These regimes increasingly trade tactics and technologies, exporting models of repression that threaten democratic values worldwide. In response, youth resist in whispers. Through creativity, irony, and digital dexterity, they craft encrypted defiance: in coded memes, subversive slang, guerrilla art, edgy rap lyrics, and high-risk acts of protest.
In 2026, the World Cup returns to North America — its biggest stage yet — with promises of unity, spectacle, and global celebration. But behind the fanfare lies a deeper story: a legacy of corruption, political manipulation, and unchecked power. From decades of bribery scandals and backroom deals to the organization’s controversial awarding of tournaments, FIFA’s history casts a long shadow over “the beautiful game.” This panel explores how a sport governed by one of the most scandal-plagued institutions in modern history continues to expand its global reach, often aligning with authoritarian regimes such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
