The SXSW harassment controversy refuses to die down after Hugh Forrest, head of the annual event announced the cancellation of two panels investigating Gamergate. "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 previously said in an official statement.
Since then, participants like BuzzFeed and Vox Media threatened to pullout from the event, according to a previous HNGN report. SXSW organizers were initially firm about their decision and maintained they would not reinstate the panels, but in an effort to stem the onslaught of criticisms, they are reportedly considering an all-day event dedicated to sessions focused on online harassment, according to Fortune.
For critics, however, such move is seen as a mere P.R. stunt, designed to shield the event from the massive disaster brought about by the Gamergate panel cancellation. Some consider the backlash as poetic justice. SXSW - a festival on digital culture - is taking a beating on social media and blogs for its spineless capitulation to the online-harassment crowd, Slate said.
In the gaming world, Gamergate came to be equated with a cabal of gamers that believes that video games are a men's world and the perpetrates systematically target women and activists who raise the issue of diversity and gender with online threats and harassment.
