Of course, Facebook is hardly the first to make such a move. MWC, which takes place in Barcelona at the end of February, was cancelled after multiple high-profile companies pulled out. Similarly, many companies are deciding to pass up on exhibiting at the GDC conference in San Francisco next month -- Sony, Facebook and Microsoft have all decided not to participate.

At this point, it's fair to wonder if some of the spring's other marquee tech events, like Microsoft Build and Google I/O, will be happening. These cancellations we've seen thus far this year highlight how the global health community doesn't quite have a handle on the coronavirus spread, something that's probably making participants and organizers alike reluctant to take part in events like F8.