Bringing human rights to center stage at South by Southwest

Each year, the Human Rights Foundation travels to Austin, Texas in the middle of March to take part in the largest interactive conference in the world – South by Southwest (SXSW). At its core, the conference remains one of the best ways we have to reach new audiences and bring people together to meet, learn, share ideas – and have some fun while we’re at it.

We’ve introduced thousands of people to Flash Drives for Freedom with Yeonmi Park; we’ve focused on tech for human rights with speakers from Cuba, Syria, Eritrea, and Afghanistan; we’ve covered surveillance and the Uyghur crisis with Tahir Imin, Melissa Chan, and Megha Rajagopalan.

This year, we’re focusing on the Hong Kong protests. We have an official SXSW Interactive panel on deck (details below) and we are actively focused on raising funds to support HRF’s legal and advocacy efforts to support Hong Kong’s struggle for freedom.

Protest in the Age of Surveillance

SXSW Interactive Panel

March 16, 2020
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
JW Marriott, Salon FG
For protesters all around the world, technology is an important tool to communicate and mobilize. For repressive regimes, technology provides new means to surveil protesters and dissidents. In Hong Kong, where just recently protests against China’s influence gained global attention, the Hong Kong government is upgrading its surveillance technology while impeding protesters from utilizing existing communication tools. But protestors are fighting back, using cash to buy transit tickets and burner SIM cards to coordinate privately.

Join the Human Rights Foundation for a conversation with Denise Ho, singer-songwriter and pro-democracy activist; Nathan Law, founder of youth activist group Demosistō; Mary Hui, Quartz journalist; and HRF’s own Jenny Wang to discuss combating government surveillance in protests.

More information about the panel here. SXSW badge required for entry

Raising funds for the 2020 Hong Kong Desk

Get involved!

We’ve raised $25,000 already and we need your help. This new HRF program will raise China and Hong Kong’s government’s suppression of liberties to a supranational level by filing petitions and urgent appeals to UN Human Rights’ Council Special Procedures, produce research, reports and advocacy to maintain international attention on the subject, and help hold perpetrators of human rights abuses in Hong Kong accountable.

More information about the fundraiser here.

For information or interviews, please contact Natalia Ciolko at [email protected].