SXSW Interactive, one of the U.S. largest tech conferences, is presently at the center of a maelstrom after it canceled two panels on online harassment when it received numerous threats of violence five months before the annual event.
"We want the SXSW community to know that we hear and understand your frustrations and concerns about the recent cancellation of two SXSW gaming panels," Hugh Forrest, director at SXSW said in an official statement. "We are working with local law enforcement to assess the various threats received regarding these sessions."
The first panel called "Level Up" investigates how design and interface choices affect the incidence of harassment in games. The second, "Save Point," is the panel that discusses social/political landscape in the gaming community. Both of these panels cover the so-called "Gamergate," or the culture war, that emerged around diversity and inclusion in video games, according to Washington Post.
Several participants, however, have criticized the move to cancel the Gamergate panels. "By approving the panels in question, SXSW assumed responsibility for related controversies and security threats. By canceling the panels, they have cut off an opportunity to discuss a real and urgent problem in media and technology today," Vox Media said in a Re/Code report. Representatives from the company and Buzzfeed have threatened to pull out of the event if the panels are not reinstated.
"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," top leaders at Buzz Feed said in a statement.
