Twitter pulls out of SXSW 2020 over virus fears

Twitter has announced that it will not be sending its employees to South by Southwest (SxSW) 2020 this year in an attempt to avoid the spread of coronavirus. A spokesperson confirmed to the Verge that the company, where CEO Jack Dorsey was going to make a keynote, has pulled out. Twitter had issued an edict over the weekend, saying that it was restricting all non-essential travel to reduce the risk of exposure to the virus.

The change is, apparently, a recent one, with the company still preparing to attend the festival late last week. But as fears around the virus continues, it's likely that other big names will decline to show up to Austin, Texas, for the shindig. Organizers of the festival, yesterday, said that it will proceed, but with an added focus on "safety as a top priority."

So far this year, a number of events that Engadget would ordinarily have covered have been axed at the last minute. That includes Mobile World Congress, the Game Developers Conference and the Geneva Motor Show. Other events that have been axed include Facebook's F8 developer event, while the wearables and watchmaking show BaselWorld, which was scheduled for April, has been postponed until 2021.