Facebook, Twitter pull out of SXSW due to coronavirus fears

Coronavirus outbreak, with a global death toll exceeding 3,000, has spread to more than 60 countries, upending global supply chains and threatening economic growth.

SXSW is set to be held in Austin, Texas next week. (REUTERS)

Facebook and Twitter have pulled out of this year's South by Southwest (SXSW) music and tech festival, which is scheduled to take place between March 13 and March 22 in Austin, Texas, due to the growing concerns about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Twitter in a statement to The Verge confirmed that it was cancelling its participation in the upcoming tech event, including CEO Jack Dorsey's keynote, owing to recent outbreak. In a separate blog post earlier this month, the company said that it was "suspending all non-critical business travel and events."

"This policy is effective immediately and will continue until the World Health Organization or Centers for Disease Control deem it appropriate to step back from pandemic precautionary measures or when a vaccine becomes available," the post said.

Apart from Twitter, Facebook too has pulled out of the event. "Due to concerns related to coronavirus, our company and employees will not be participating in SXSW this year," Facebook said in a statement to the Business Insider (via The Verge).

The coronavirus 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 of several tech events including The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2020 and Facebook's F8 annual developers conference.

(With inputs from Reuters.)