In reversal, SXSW festival plans online harassment summit
The SXSW Interactive festival said Friday that it was holding an "online harassment summit" after it was criticized for canceling two panels related to video games and online harassment.
SXSW Interactive Director Hugh Forrest said in a blog post that canceling the panels "sent an unintended message that SXSW not only tolerates online harassment but condones it." The festival had received threats of violence because of the programs.
Forrest said that canceling the sessions was "not an appropriate response" and that the festival was "working with the authorities and security experts."
Both panels had been related to the online campaign dubbed "GamerGate" that began last fall, during which women were harassed for criticizing the lack of diversity in the video game industry and women's portrayal in it. Neither of the panels mentions GamerGate specifically.
Online media companies BuzzFeed and Vox Media had threatened to pull their panelists and moderators if the panels weren't reinstated. Neither company immediately responded to emails asking if they now planned to participate in the festival.
The festival said Friday that it would have a "day-long summit to examine" online harassment on Saturday, March 12. The event will be in-person and live-streamed, said Kelly Krause of SXSW's press team.
Forrest's post said the event would include speakers from both panels. One was called "Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games," while the other was "SavePoint: A Discussion on the Gaming Community." The "SavePoint" talk had been set to discuss the "current social/political landscape in the gaming community" and included speakers that shared some GamerGate concerns, such as ethics in gaming journalism. The "Level Up" panel included several women who have been subjected to harassment.
However, some of the "Level Up" panelists expressed concerns about plans for the new event and suggested they might pull out.
Randi Lee Harper, a video game developer and founder of the Online Abuse Prevention Initiative, who was scheduled to speak at "Level Up," told the tech news site Re/Code, "we were very surprised to find SXSW making GamerGate a part of the discussion about online harassment."
"No one would say abusers should be allowed to debate those they abused. This shows SXSW does not understand online harassment," she wrote on Twitter. "Who wants to take bets on how long it's going to take for other speakers on the online harassment summit to start backing out?"
Harper told Re/Code that while she didn't oppose the GamerGate supporters' presence at the festival, "adding them to the summit creates a safety concern for many of the people who are currently scheduled to be participating. It is unfortunate that SXSW still lacks an understanding of online harassment, and I have no confidence in their ability to run this summit while keeping panelists safe and providing for a productive conversation."
The tech festival, held every March in Austin, Texas, attracts 33,000-plus attendees and is part of the larger SXSW extravaganza for music and film.