SXSW MAY PUT ONLINE HARASSMENT IN THE SPOTLIGHT

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SXSW Interactive might include a daylong event on combating online harassment, Re/code reported Tuesday.

The news followed SXSW's cancellation of two planned panels that were expected to focus on opposite ends of the Gamergate debate.

Threats of on-site violence spurred the decision to cancel both panels, according to SXSW officials.

Caroline Sinders of IBM Watson, Katherine Cross of the CUNY Graduate Center, and Randi Harper, founder of the Online Abuse Prevention Initiative, were slated to speak at SXSW in March during a session titled "Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games."

Even if the event organizers should reinstate "Level Up," the participants have not decided whether they would speak at SXSW, Harper told Re/code.

The other cancelled session, "SavePoint: A Discussion on the Gaming Community," was sponsored by the Open Gaming Society.

In the week following the announcement of the two sessions, "SXSW has received numerous threats of on-site violence related to this programming," said Hugh Forrest, the director of SXSW Interactive, in explaining the cancellation decision.

SXSW takes pride in offering a place for diverse ideas and people, but preserving the "sanctity of the big tent" requires keeping the dialogue "civil and respectful," he said.

"If people cannot 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," said Forrest.

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