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from the harrassed-turtles-all-the-way-down dept.
As the March kickoff for the weeks-long 2016 South By Southwest (SXSW) festival approaches, its disparate sections—music, film, and interactive—have begun announcing confirmed panels, speakers, and showcases. SXSW Interactive appeared prepared to host a panel about the hot-button topic of online harassment and abuse, but that plan changed on Monday when a festival director officially announced that the panel, along with another tangentially related panel, had been canceled due to allegations of "numerous threats of on-site violence."
SXSW Interactive director Hugh Forrest posted the news at the festival's official blog, though Forrest didn't confirm whether the threats were linked to both panels that he confirmed received the axe: "SavePoint: A Discussion on the Gaming Community" and "Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games." After describing SXSW as a home for "diverse ideas," Forrest also described a desire to maintain "civil and respectful" dialogue.
"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 wrote. "Maintaining civil and respectful dialogue within the big tent is more important than any particular session."
And then, just a few days later, we have this report that the panels were restored:
South by Southwest's organizers reversed course Friday and scheduled a summit about gaming-related Internet harassment, after criticism for canceling similar sessions at next year's event due to threats of violence at the festival.
"Earlier this week we made a mistake," Hugh Forrest, director of the SXSW Interactive Festival, said in a statement on its website. "By canceling two sessions we sent an unintended message that SXSW not only tolerates online harassment but condones it, and for that we are truly sorry."
[...] "While we made the decision in the interest of safety for all of our attendees, canceling sessions was not an appropriate response," SXSW's Forrest said, adding the organizers had worked with authorities and security experts. "Online harassment is a serious matter and we stand firmly against hate speech and cyberbullying."
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 02 2015, @08:58PM
How many times has somebody posted your home address along with threats to kill you and your immediate family (along with their home addresses)?
This has happened to numerous GamerGate supporters. In fact, Chelsea van Valkenburg (aka "Zoe Quinn"), is guilty of it. [crimeandfederalism.com]
There is harassment and threats related to GamerGate, and it is almost all directed toward GamerGate supporters. Claims otherwise have been debunked, like when Brianna Wu (a transsexual gamedev born John Flynt. I mention this because her past behavior is telling and worth reading about) claimed to have been forced out of her home, only to deliver a television interview from the same location shortly afterward.
Almost all Internet "harassment" is bullshit, but it can be quite profitable--socially and monetarily--to pretend to take it seriously. This behavior is distinct to one side of the conflict, and it is not found among those who support GamerGate.