Facebook Pulls Out of South by Southwest Festival Over Coronavirus Fears

Facebook is pulling out of this year's South by Southwest (SXSW) music and tech festival over growing concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, a spokesperson for the company said on Monday. The virus outbreak, with a global death toll exceeding 3,000, has spread to more than 60 countries, upending global supply chains and threatening economic growth.

It has lead to the cancellation or disruption of other events including The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and Facebook's F8 annual developers conference last month.

SXSW, set to be held in Austin, Texas, next week, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. It has previously said the event will proceed as planned despite "a handful" of cancellations related to the virus.

According to a report by The Verge, Twitter has also cancelled its appearance in SXSW conference over coronavirus concerns.

Meanwhile a Change.org petition to cancel SXSW itself due to coronavirus outbreak has gathered over 27,000 signatures.

© Thomson Reuters 2020