SXSW has announced the cancellation of two advised session for Interactive next year due to harassment. Ironically, one of the cancelled sessions is “Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games”.
In a statement SXSW Interactive director Hugh Forrest said, “On Monday, October 26, SXSW Interactive made the call to cancel two sessions for the 2016 event: “SavePoint: A Discussion on the Gaming Community” and “Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games.” 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. However, in the seven days since announcing these two sessions, SXSW has received numerous threats of on-site violence related to this programming”.
The cancellation was done reluctantly but the organisers want to place the safety of the delegates as the top priority. “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”.
The culprits behind the threats are a posse of clowns known as Gamergate. These online bullies target women in the gaming industry. These haters spew abuse at prominent women under the guise that they are fighting for the ethics in gaming journalism. They are a vile, toxic hate group.
Forrest said that, “Over the years, we are proud of the healthy community of digital innovators that has formed around SXSW. On occasions such as this one, this community necessitates strong management to survive. Maintaining civil and respectful dialogue within the big tent is more important than any particular session”.
——————————————————————————————————————————————
Never miss a story! Get your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to the Noise11 Music Newsletter here
Listen to the Noise11 Music News channel now at iHeartRadio
Follow Noise11.com on Facebook and Twitter
