Media blame GamerGate for SXSW panel cancellations (Part 1)

By Ashe Schow, Ashe Schow

Published December 20, 2015

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It's not just conservatives who feel the sting of media bias. On Monday, the yearly Austin music, technology and movie festival known as South By Southwest cancelled two panels that had been associated with the online movement known as GamerGate.

The GamerGate movement is typically described in one of two ways. Among its supporters, it is seen as a reaction to unethical, undisclosed conflicts of interest in video game journalism. Among its detractors, the movement is a mob of online misogynists who harass women.

One of the cancelled panels, called "Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games," included panelists who had openly disparaged GamerGate activism in the past. The other panel, "#SavePoint: A Discussion on the Gaming Community" included panelists who had spoken in support of GamerGate previously. Neither panel was specifically about GamerGate, but both panels would not likely have been able to avoid a discussion about the movement.