The South by Southwest festival announced Monday that it cancelled two scheduled panels related to gaming and online harassment after receiving threats.
SXSW
South by Southwest Interactive announced Monday it had cancelled two panels at the Austin-based media festival related to gaming and online harassment after receiving "numerous threats of on-site violence."
Members of the "Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games" panel said they had received emails on Monday notifying them that SXSW had cancelled the discussions after receiving threats.
While the Level Up panel was not specifically about Gamergate, a movement known for harassment of women in the online gaming community, it was filled with women panelists who had previously been targets of harassment, including Randi Lee Harper, Caroline Sinders, and Katherine Cross.
The other canceled panel, "SavePoint: A Discussion on the Gaming Community," included Perry Jones, Mercedes Carrera, Nick Robalik, and Lynn Walsh, who had been previously involved with the Gamergate movement.
"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," SXSW Interactives Director Hugh Forrest said in a statement Monday. "However, in the seven days since announcing these two sessions, SXSW has received numerous threats of on-site violence related to this programming."
"SXSW prides itself on being a big tent and a marketplace of diverse people and diverse ideas," Forrest said. "However, preserving the sanctity of the big tent at SXSW Interactive necessitates that we keep the dialogue civil and respectful. 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."
Forrest's statement on the cancelation:
Via sxsw.com
Earlier this week, Vice's Motherboard wrote about the critical response to the SavePoint panel.
The Opening Gaming Society, which was involved in the SavePoint panel said they were disappointed by the SXSW cancellation.
"I know all of you, on both sides, must be incredibly upset that this has happened, but take our honest advice; Step away from your computers/phones for a moment," Perry Jones, the group's founder and president said. "Go outside and take a breather, play a video game that calms your nerves, pet your cat or dog, and spend some time thinking. Don't let that anger and unrest plant itself in you – it will only ripen into hatred and lead you to say things you could someday regret."
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