BuzzFeed plans to withdraw its participation from the South by Southwest Interactive festival after organizers decided to cancel two gaming and online harassment panels after receiving “numerous threats of on-site violence.”

In a letter to the organizers of the Austin-based media festival sent Tuesday, President of BuzzFeed Motion Pictures Ze Frank, BuzzFeed Publisher Dao Nguyen, and BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith wrote, "We will feel compelled to withdraw ... if the conference can't find a way to do what those other targets of harassment do every day — to carry on important conversations in the face of harassment."

On Monday, members of the “Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games” panel said they had received emails notifying them that SXSW had canceled the discussions after receiving threats. The panel included several women who had previously been targets of harassment as part of the Gamergate movement.



Here's the full message BuzzFeed sent to Director of the SXSW Interactive Festival Hugh Forrest: