Access Now

Access Now is an international non-profit organization headquartered in New York City. Access Now defends and extends the digital rights of people and communities at risk. The organization hosts the annual RightsCon human rights conference.

It was founded in California in July 2009 and focuses on digital civil rights. Access Now was established by Brett Solomon, Cameran Ashraf, Sina Rabbani and Kim Pham in 2009, after the contested Iranian presidential election of that year. It has registered offices in Belgium, Costa Rica, and the United States, with presences in New York, San José, Brussels, Berlin, Tunis, Delhi, Nairobi, and Manila. It is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. It has more than 130 team members across five continents.

Its 24/7 Digital Security Helpline offers real-time, direct technical assistance and advice to civil society groups and activists, media organizations, journalists and bloggers, and human rights defenders. The Helpline has assisted in more than 10,000 global cases of activists, independent journalists, and human rights defenders under threat. The #KeepItOn campaign was formed at RightsCon Silicon Valley in 2016 by Access Now and partners.