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SXSW 2016

Just when I thought I’d never have to hear about GamerGate again, BAM! right in the kisser…

According to Jezebel, a South by Southwest Interactive panel called “Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games” disappeared from the March 2016 schedule. The panelists were told by the event’s organizers that the sudden cancellation was due to “numerous threats of violence.” Y’know, the typical GamerGater threat that is usually all bark and no bite.

SXSW 2016 Gamergate

The butt-hurt seemed to have started when the anti-GamerGate panelists — Randi Lee Harper, Caroline Sinders, and Katherine Cross — were trying to get votes for their panel through SXSW’s “Panelpicker” interactive voting service. You can see the GamerGaters’ displeasure above. I don’t suggest reading any more past that, but if you’re curious…

Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games” was chosen fair and square, and was properly listed into the program for the even, Harper tells Jezebel. Then, she and her fellow panelists were informed on Monday that the panel was cancelled.

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Katherine Cross says that she is “bitterly disappointed”:

SXSW showcases innovation in technology and we were excited to talk about some of the positive ways that online harassment is being addressed and countered, as well as what could be done next. Ours was a constructive, forward looking panel meant to demonstrate that there are both technical an social solutions to a problem that many feel is an inevitable curse in our society.

Cross goes on to add that GamerGate wasn’t even the focus of their panel’s conversation:

I’d also add that contrary to the assertion made by SXSW in the email they sent Caroline, our panel was not about GamerGate. It was about the wider problem of online harassment. As someone who researches this issue and advocates around it, I believe it’s important to not become too myopic in focusing on a specific case of abuse as that can obscure the larger, structural issues at work. I know Caroline and Randi share my thinking on that matter.

On the flip side, another scheduled GamerGate panel has also disappeared from the schedule. “SavePoint: A Discussion on the Gaming Community” featured Nick Robalik and Perry Jones, both pro-GamerGate game developers, Mercedes Carrera, an adult film star and vocal GamerGate supporter, and Lynn Walsh, an NBC producer and president-elect for the Society of Professional Journalists. The latter recently appeared at a previous Gamergate gathering. Organizers of that event claimed they had to cancel it midway through due to bomb threats.

SXSW representative, Hugh Forest, released a statement shortly after news broke, confirming that both panels have indeed been cancelled:

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.

SXSW prides itself on being a big tent and a marketplace of diverse people and diverse ideas.

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.

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.

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The cancellation has not deterred the SavePoint people, however. Releasing a statement of their own, The Open Gaming Society is moving on to “Plan B”:

The Open Gaming Society believes in open discussions and would like to announce our “Plan B.” We formed this plan almost immediately after we submitted the panel to SXSW. Though SXSW has cancelled the panel, we still plan to have a panel regardless. This has been a backup plan from square one and now we are forced to act on it. We will organize, fund, and host the panel ourselves. We plan to do so around the same time as SXSW to allow for the largest possible audience.

Seriously. I can’t believe we’re still having to talk about GamerGate. In the world of gaming, women have been continuously abused, harassed, and even threatened for merely stepping into the “boys club” and trying to carve out a little niche of their own. I don’t care on which side you fall onto this subject, whether you still think it’s about ethics in journalism or about women constantly getting the short end of the stick just for liking something. The fact of the matter is, there are people so damn insecure with themselves that they have to go and threaten people because they heard about something they didn’t like. GOD HELP WHOMEVER DISAGREES, right?

Grow up.

As for SXSW, you’re letting the terrorists win.

Source: Jezebel

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Christina E. Janke

Christina is the co-host of “Intro to Geek” on Shauncastic and Editor-in-Chief at Agents of Geek. Her love of all things Mass Effect knows no bounds. She also carries an obsession with comic books, video games, and quirky television shows. Her heroes are Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Gail Simone. She hopes to be just like them when she grows up.