People look on as Jones from #YesWeCode interviews Rev. Jesse Jackson in a SXSW Interactive panel about innovating diversity and inclusion in tech on Tuesday, March 17. Credit: Ricardo B. Brazziell / AMERICAN-STATESMAN
South by Southwest Interactive is facing perhaps its worst crisis of public backlash yet over two panels canceled for its 23rd festival in March. You can read the full background in this post, which is still being updated on Austin360.com.
Apart from a public statement on its website yesterday, SXSW Interactive has not yet engaged publicly on the growing debate about the panels. While we wait for more details from the fest, here are our top questions about what’s happened that we hope the fest will address.
- After public threats cited in SXSW's posts were made, was law enforcement notified (local, federal?) and what's the status of that investigation if it's happening?
- Why was the controversial #SavePoint panel added to the festival without going through the PanelPicker process and was this an effort to try to balance the scales in debating the topic of GamerGate?
- Why was a panel about online harassment that did not explicitly mention GamerGate as its focus get canceled, but a Gaming panel that does mention it remain on the schedule?
- Should SXSW have shut down comments or done a better job monitoring heated debate sooner on PanelPicker, as Arthur Chu suggests on The Daily Beast?
- Should SXSW's Programming Committee be more involved in late-addition panels or decisions like the one made about canceling these two 2016 panels in the future?
- Will the festival reinstate one or both panels and use it as a leaning experience for future programming?
- Will other organizations join BuzzFeed's lead and boycott the festival if that doesn't happen?
- Will this furor prompt SXSW to examine safety and harassment issues related to female panelists and attendees? The festival has made a big push in recent years to promote diversity, but will it be enough to satisfy those who say they won't attend based on these issues?
- The organizers of #SavePoint have said they'll put on the panel regardless of SXSW's involvement. Should we expect more parallel events during SXSW 2016 if the panels aren't reinstated?
- Who made the initial threats and were they directed at SXSW staff or specific members of panels. If it was panelists, which ones?
Got more questions that need answering? Please post them in the comments.
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