Threats of violence prompted the organizers of the SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, Texas, to sideline two panel discussions expected to focus on the topic of online harassment.
Hugh Forrest, the director of the annual tech festival, explained in a blog post on Monday that the two panels — Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games and SavePoint: A Discussion on the Gaming Community — had been scratched from the event’s schedule amid significant security concerns raised in recent days.
Although absent from the names of either talks, the two presentations were expected to involve different aspects of so-called “GamerGate,” a controversy that erupted last year concerning ethics in gaming journalism and the harassment endured by women within the industry.
“We had hoped that hosting these two discussions in March 2016 in Austin would lead to a valuable exchange of ideas on this very important topic,” Mr. Forrest wrote. “However, in the seven days since announcing these two sessions, SXSW has received numerous threats of on-site violence related to this programming.”
“If people can not agree, disagree and embrace new ways of thinking in a safe and secure place that is free of online and offline harassment, then this marketplace of ideas is inevitably compromised,” he added. “Maintaining civil and respectful dialogue within the big tent is more important than any particular session.”
But in the wake of the festival’s decision to snub the two talks, top dogs at BuzzFeed said on Tuesday that they too would be bowing out, voluntarily, if the harassment panels aren’t put back on the schedule.
“BuzzFeed has participated deeply in SXSW for years, and our staffers are scheduled to speak on or moderate a half-dozen panels at SXSW 2016,” President of BuzzFeed Motion Pictures Ze Frank, BuzzFeed publisher Dao Nguyen and Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith wrote in an open letter to the organizers.
“We will feel compelled to withdraw them if the conference can’t find a way to do what those other targets of harassment do every day — to carry on important conversations in the face of harassment,” they wrote.
Would-be panelists who were punted from this year’s lineup include Online Abuse Prevention Initiative founder Randi Harper, Caroline Sinders of IBM’s Watson project, gaming critic Katherine Cross, Perry Jones of the Open Gaming Society, game developer Nick Robalik, adult film actress Mercedes Carrera and journalist Lynn Walsh.
“I’ve been receiving constant threats for a little over a year now,” Ms. Harper responded to the cancelation on Twitter. “SXSW dealt with it for a week.”
Nevertheless, Ms. Harper said she disagrees with BuzzFeed’s threat of pulling out from SXSW altogether in light of the event’s decision, tweeting “do not cancel your SXSW panel” to her 17,000 followers early Tuesday. “Silence is not solidarity,” she said.
“I think it says a lot about the fact that women aren’t taken seriously or respected in tech spaces and neither are their concerns,” Ms. Sinders explained to Motherboard this week with regards to the event organizer’s decision. “It raises the question, do you care about the community that you’re growing? The reaction really says no.”
In their ultimatum this week, BuzzFeed’s staffer said they’re confident the festival’s organizers can put in place “appropriate security precautions” before the event occurs in March 2016.
SXSW Interactive is a spin-off of the long-standing music festival formally known as South By Southwest. Last year’s tech event was attended by more than 30,000 participants from 82 countries, according to its organizers.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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