[3] The organization issues reports on global Internet censorship, and hosts the annual RightsCon human rights conference.

[1] 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.

[12] As of 2020[update], Access Now is a 501(c)(3) organization based in New York City in the United States,[13] with staff, operations, and activities distributed in other places the world.

[19] The discussions were about hate speech and freedom of expression, artificial intelligence, privacy and data security, open government and democracy, access, and many others.

[21][22] The topics for RightsCon2021 included: Artificial Intelligence (AI), automation, data protection and user control, digital futures, democracy, elections, new business models, content control, peacebuilding, censorship, internet shutdowns, freedom of the media and many others were discussed by several digital rights organizations and individuals.

[26][27] Access Now fights against online repression, and provides grants and support to grassroots organizations to advance the rights of users and communities at risk of digital violations.

[29] The Millennium Challenge Corporation uses these data as a part of its Freedom of Information indicator on its annual scorecards, used for determining aid allocations.

[37] Services include digital security guidance on topics such as how to protect against data and credential theft, and preventing targeted cyberattacks.