Facebook called off its plans for South by Southwest on Monday, joining Twitter as the second tech giant to pull out of the conference amid growing anxiety about the coronavirus. "Due to concerns related to coronavirus, our company and employees will not be participating in SXSW this year," Jocelyn Jones, a Facebook spokesperson, 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 in East Austin for its artists in residence program, a Facebook spokesperson told the Statesman.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey canceled his appearance at South by Southwest after Twitter announced Sunday it was "suspending all noncritical business travel and events" for its employees and others involved in the company's operations in response to the virus.
The announcements came as an online petition to cancel South by Southwest due to health concerns continued to rack up signatures. On Tuesday, more than 30,000 people had signed the petition, which appears on the website Change.org.
Organizers behind South by Southwest said they still planned to move ahead with the conference, which is set to run from March 13 to March 22 this year. 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 municipal health department. "We are proceeding with the 2020 event with the health and safety of our attendees, staff, and volunteers as our top priority," they said in the statement.
Organizers said they would take special germ-fighting measures like wiping down microphones, providing disinfectant wipes and sprays, hand sanitizer and literature from Austin's health department about disease prevention.
Just as Twitter and Facebook bowed out of the conference, a handful of other high-profile 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. The two-day series co-hosted by the Texas Tribune also includes Anita Hill, U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, Beto O'Rourke and Andrew Yang.
Celebrity-wise, Judd Apatow, Spike Jonze, Stephen Colbert, Kim Kardashian West, Ozzy Osbourne, Trent Reznor, Bob Odenkirk, Roger Waters and Michael Moore are on deck for South by Southwest. 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.
