海角大神

The Harassment Summit at this year's听South by Southwest Interactive festival is meant to explore solutions to combat online abuse. And if the digital intimidation that has trailed participants ahead of Saturday's event is an indication, the problem is more pressing than ever.

"I'm not actively tweeting where I鈥檓 going, and I dyed my hair before I left. So far I鈥檓 just trying to keep a low radar," said Caroline Sinders, an interaction designer and a听panelist on the Harassment Summit's "" session.听

Ms.听Sinders said she's recently noticed an uptick in trolling on Twitter with users posting information about her employer, which she tries to keep private to minimize exposure to would-be harassers.

SXSW initially cancelled the panel Sinders and two of her colleagues were scheduled to speak on after听receiving violent threats听in October. The festival also nixed another gaming session titled "SavePoint: A Discussion on the Gaming Community."

But after significant public pushback,听the conference reinstated "Level Up"听as part of a larger harassment听summit. The听day-long event includes 15 panels addressing various aspects of Internet harassment and abuse.

"By canceling two sessions we sent an unintended message that SXSW not only tolerates online harassment but condones it, and for that we are truly sorry," Hugh Forrest, director of the SXSW Interactive festival, following the controversy.

The fact that the discussion about online harassment has generated harsh comments on Twitter and elsewhere online demonstrates the听volatility听of the issue, and why many people pressed SXSW to create a forum to address the problem.

Massachusetts state Rep.听Katherine Clark (D) was among the most vocal proponents for the tech festival to create a forum to talk about Internet abuse. at one of the sessions on Saturday, and herself has been the victim of harassment.听

In January, after she made news for championing an antiharassment bill, she was a victim of so-called "swatting" attack. (Swatting is when someone calls the police with a fake emergency to get the police SWAT team dispatched to the victim's home.) Representative Clark's bill would make swatting a federal crime.听

Saturday's lineup for the Harassment Summit includes many other speakers who have been on the receiving end of Internet attacks.

Brianna Wu, a video game developer who founded Giant Spacekat, was targeted heavily in the so-called "GamerGate" controversy, will speak on a panel tackling the question of whether a ""听is even possible.

The GamerGate controversy was an online movement . Ms. Wu was after she received a significant amount of rape and death threats following her tweets about the controversy.

Other panels will focus on specifically fosters harassment and hate, , and how and could be used to reduce online harassment.

The 听at 9:30 a.m. at .

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