The 2025 RightsCon, organized by Access Now, is being held in Taiwan for the first time. Over the next four days, it takes place at the Taipei International Convention Center, bringing together civil society groups, government agencies, and tech companies, including Meta, from more than 100 countries to discuss the human rights implications of technologies such as artificial intelligence, digital platforms, and data security. Taiwanese organizations dedicated to digital rights have issued a joint statement featuring nine core demands calling on the Taiwanese government to adopt more comprehensive regulatory policies.

The nine core demands, presented by local civil society groups including Judicial Reform Foundation, Open Culture Foundation, Taiwan Association for Human Rights, and Amnesty International Taiwan, cover areas such as digital rights, personal data protection, internet access, digital platforms, artificial intelligence, human rights due diligence, and open-source technology.

During the opening ceremony, Executive Director of the Open Culture Foundation Lee Hsin-ying, the local partner of the summit, invited Vice President Bi khim Hsiao and Deputy Premier Li Chiun Cheng to join the discussion with civil society on human rights protection policies in the digital age.

In her speech, Deputy Premier Li Chiun Cheng mentioned that, compared to "authoritarian countries using digital technology to monitor people and enforce digital censorship," Taiwan's democratic and free society will lead digital technology to serve democracy and human rights. Therefore, the government continues to reduce the digital divide and combat digital sexual violence, with policies such as the Personal Data Protection Commission and the Basic Artificial Intelligence Act soon to be implemented. Vice President Bi khim Hsiao emphasized that Taiwanese society faces "various online attacks that threaten democracy, including the polarization of online speech, the manipulation of discourse with misinformation, privacy violations, and algorithmic biases."

Civil society organizations acknowledged the Vice President and Deputy Premier for mentioning that the government will continue to strengthen human rights issues in the digital age. However, regarding specific policies, civil society organizations also pointed out that existing policies and regulations still require further revision and improvement in order to align with the "good digital governance" mentioned in the speech.
“As digital technology penetrates all aspects of government administration, law enforcement, business operations, and daily life, it also means that everyone’s rights could be impacted by these technologies,” said Ming Ju Lee, Deputy CEO of Judicial Reform Foundation. "The Taiwanese government must immediately initiate the legislative process for the Digital Bill of Rights to clarify citizens' rights, the duties of government, and the boundaries of state power, ensuring that people have access to legal processes and remedies when their rights are threatened by digital technologies."

“Given that the government holds a vast amount of personal and even sensitive data, it also bears the responsibility of protecting that data,” emphasized Kuan Ju Chou, Deputy Secretary-General of Taiwan Association for Human Rights. She further pointed out that the government must establish a Personal Data Protection Committee by August, enhance the personal data protection system, and follow clear and robust privacy protection laws. Moreover, the government should create a mechanism to respond to data breaches in public agencies, especially the 2022 national household registration data leak. Chou also emphasized that even seemingly well-intentioned uses of data should respect individuals' rights, particularly concerning health data such as healthcare records and insurance information, where individuals should have the right to informed consent and the ability to withdraw consent.

"Amnesty International's global research has found that the algorithms and content mechanisms of platforms like Facebook, X, and TikTok have caused significant harm to the mental and physical health of children and adolescents, while exacerbating online discrimination and hate speech that often lead to offline violence," said Eeling Chiu, Executive Director of Amnesty International Taiwan. She stressed the need for the government to establish governance mechanisms for major internet platform providers that adhere to international human rights standards, while platforms themselves must implement preventive measures and transparent review systems. She also noted that the Taiwanese government's draft of the Artificial Intelligence Basic Law lacks sufficient human rights impact assessments and mechanisms, calling for civil society to be involved in pushing for relevant legislation to ensure that both AI laws and product development meet international human rights standards.

“Public authorities have an obligation to protect the neutrality and openness of the internet. They should not impose network restrictions, such as DNS RPZ measures, without clear legal authorization,” said Singing Li, Executive Director of Open Culture Foundation. Limiting access to websites is a practice that greatly impacts freedom of speech, and the government should only impose such measures when legally authorized and with a transparent system in place. She further stated that while technological advancements and applications have the potential to create positive value, they also come with risks of misuse and abuse. The best approach is to incorporate open-source and civic technology into law and policy-making as core strategies for public service and digital development.

Organizing Organizations:

Judicial Reform Foundation, Open Culture Foundation, Taiwan Association for Human Rights, Amnesty International Taiwan  

Supporting Organizations:

Taiwan Labor Front, Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, Asia Citizen Future Association