issue 09 // volume 42 life & style // no. ‘Wi

Public backlash against SXSW decision to
cancel two panels relating to Gamergate

» Discussion of online harassment brought down by online harassment

Brittney MacDonald
Life & Style Editor
Mlifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca

 

he geek subculture has
never been under public
scrutiny more than now,
and with movements like
Gamergate and Cosplay is Not
Consent, conventions have
been attempting to revamp
how they both see and deal
with issues of harassment.
But with a community that
largely communicates through
the Internet, topics such
as sexism and acceptable
behavior will always be a hot
button for a flood of negative
energy—case in point, South
by Southwest (SXSW).
SXSW is a collection
of conventions and music
festivals in Austin, Texas
that covers many facets of
interactive media. Recently, the
organization suffered backlash
for announcing plans to cancel
two of their upcoming panels
due to threats they received.
The sadly ironic thing is that
these panels, which have
been brought down by online
harassment, were meant to
discuss online harassment.
More specifically, the
two panels were intended to
create a discussion regarding
gendered harassment both in
videogames and the videogame
industry. Entitled “SavePoint:
A Discussion on the Gaming
Community,” and “Level Up:

: Overcoming Harassment in

: Games,” both panels planned to
: address the events of Gamergate, :
: with one panel offering up :
: a debate-style discussion

: featuring people that were both
: for and against the movement.

For those of you unfamiliar,

: Gamergate was a controversial

: movement that began in August
: 2014. The movement was against :
: the recent surge of critique :
: centred on issues of sexism and

: progressivism (a philosophical

: title for a broad idea regarding

: issues of social growth within

: society) in the videogame

: subculture. Gamergate is most

: known as the catalyst that led

: to the harassment of many

: women within the videogame

: industry. Radical supporters of

: the movement released private

: information containing both

: the home and work addresses

: of various female programmers,

: developers, designers,

: community administrators, and
: streamers (people who record

: themselves playing games

: online). People who spoke

: up against this behavior also

: became targets. This lead to

: threats of violence, rape, and

: murder—even forcing some

: women to move once their home
: addresses became compromised.

The Gamergate movement

: has largely died down, though

: radical supporters are still out

: there—most recently making

: threats towards Prime Minister
: Justin Trudeau when he spoke

: out advocating feminism,

: specifically addressing

: Gamergate as a reason why

: more men need to support it.
SXSW claims that threats of :
: on-site violence were the reason
: they decided to cancel the two

: panels, but the decision has

: not gone unopposed. Buzzfeed,

: an Internet media company

: that has prominence at the

: various conventions and shows,

: answered the news by saying

: that they would withdraw from

: any and all SXSW programming
: in 2016 if the decision was not

: revoked. In a letter published on
: their website Buzzfeed stated,

: “BuzzFeed has participated

: deeply in SXSW for years, and

: our staffers are scheduled to

: speak on or moderate a half-

: dozen panels at SXSW 2016... We :
: will feel compelled to withdraw
: them if the conference can’t

find a way to do what those

: other targets of harassment

: do every day—to carry on

: important conversations in the
: face of harassment. We hope

: you can support the principle

: of free speech and engage a

: vital issue facing us and other

: constituents on the event.”

As of yet, the two panels

: remain cancelled. Hugh

: Forrest, director of SXSW

: Interactive, released a statement
: in support of the decision,

: claiming: “If people cannot

: agree, disagree, and embrace

: new ways of thinking ina safe

: and secure place that is free of

 
 

Photo via www.artefactgroup.com

online and offline harassment,

: then this marketplace of
: ideas [meaning SXSW] is
: inevitably compromised. ...

: Maintaining civil and respectful
: dialogue within the big tent

: is more important than any

: particular session [panel]

”

Forrest’s “greater good”

: reasoning has done little to

: impress the public, mostly due
: to the fact that the two panels’
: intended purpose was to create
: that meaningful dialogue he

: seems to think the panels’

: removal is maintaining.

In any case, SXSW

: has five months to change

: their mind before Buzzfeed
: removes its employees from
: the festival’s programming.

 

 

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They're playing the most
depressing music in the concourse
so I'm probably just gonna go
home and cry instead of class

Ld te Dok || oa