Facebook, TikTok among latest to shun festival
AUSTIN, Texas — A rising number of high-profile companies and speakers have withdrawn from the upcoming South by Southwest music and arts festival as concerns mount about the spread of the coronavirus.
Social media giant Facebook, tech news outlet Mashable, video-based social media platform TikTok and U.S. chipmaker Intel have said they will not participate in the festival in Austin that’s scheduled to run March 13-22.
“Due to concerns related to coronavirus, our company and employees will not be participating in SXSW this year,” Jocelyn Jones, a Facebook spokeswoman, said by email.
Several Facebook employees were scheduled to speak on panels during the conference, according to the Austin American-Statesman. The company also planned to set up an outpost for its artists-in-residence program, a Facebook spokesman told the Statesman.
Twitter announced a companywide ban on nonessential travel on Sunday, including canceling plans to attend the festival. Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s founder and CEO, had been scheduled to speak at the event.
Tim Ferriss, investor and podcast host, tweeted Tuesday that he’s also canceling his appearance as keynote speaker.
“I love SXSW, but I don’t believe the novel coronavirus can be contained, and I view an int’l event of 100K+ people as a huge risk to attendees and the entire city, given limited ICU beds, etc,” Ferriss wrote.
Global fear continues to rise about covid-19, the disease caused by the new virus.
More than 40,000 people have signed a petition seeking to get the event canceled.
Organizers behind South by Southwest said they still planned to move ahead with the conference. Aiming to ease concerns, they updated the conference’s website Monday with a statement saying they were aware of the petition but would go forward with the lineup of events as planned after consulting with government agencies including Austin’s health department.
“SXSW is working closely on a daily basis with local, state, and federal agencies to plan for a safe event. As a result of this dialogue and the recommendations of Austin Public Health, the 2020 event is proceeding with safety as a top priority,” organizers said in a statement, adding that they will provide hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes and spray for attendees.
Just as Twitter and Facebook bowed out of the conference, a handful of other highprofile attendees said they planned to jump on board.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, who led the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, were announced Monday as part of the festival’s “Conversations About America’s Future” series. Clinton is set to talk with MSNBC’s Joy Reid, and Schiff will chat with NBC correspondent Kasie Hunt.
Celebrities on deck for the festival include Judd Apatow, Spike Jonze, Stephen Colbert, Kim Kardashian West, Ozzy Osbourne, Trent Reznor, Bob Odenkirk, Roger Waters and Michael Moore. American linguist and social critic Noam Chomsky is also on the program. And of course, many up-and-coming bands are set to perform in venues all over Austin.
The festival drew 73,716 attendees last year, 19,166 of whom came from outside the U.S. Combined with the festival’s gaming expo and education conference, the 2019 event drew 417,400 attendees, organizers said. An economic-impact report found it contributed $355.9 million to the local economy.