国会议员凯瑟琳·克拉克（Katherine Clark）曾要求SXSW恢复一个昨天被取消的反骚扰小组，她此前曾推动对网络威胁和骚扰进行更严格的审查。克拉克在写给SXSW互动总监休·福雷斯特（Hugh Forrest）并发布到Facebook的一封信中写道，为了避免暴力威胁，选择关闭该小组，电影节未能提供它所承诺的多样化“大帐篷”。

克拉克写道：“我们向网络威胁和骚扰的目标传达的信息不应该是互联网对他们的声音关闭。”我们应该支持他们，不会容忍任何网络虐待或暴力行为，这些行为会危及他们在日益网络化的世界中的机会。”克拉克并不是第一个公开反对这一决定的人，但值得注意的是，她只提到其中一个涉及的两个小组-没有提到计划中的“讨论游戏社区”也被取消。BuzzFeed威胁说，如果SXSW不恢复这两个展板，将退出该节目；如果电影节不解决骚扰问题，Verge母公司Vox Media也计划退出。

“我们应该扩大那些愿意发言的人的声音，而不是向骚扰者投降。”

克拉克的信全文如下。

I am writing to urge you to rec***ider your decision to cancel a panel addressing online haras**ent and threats, a problem that disproportionately impacts women and girls. The brave women who were part of this panel are ready to speak out about the importance of combatting online threats despite being targets themselves. By canceling the panel, SXSW has assisted those who wish to silence women by threatening violence.

For the milli*** of women and girls who use the internet every day to navigate their jobs and personal lives, online violence is not only emotionally devastating; it also curtails their professional opportunities and their full participation in the economy. We should be amplifying the voices of those willing to speak up, not capitulating to the harassers.

I urge you to c***ider the impact of this decision, how it relates to the future of digital media, its economic promise, and our collective obligation to ensure equal participation in it. Our message to targets of online threats and haras**ent should not be that the internet is closed to their voices. It should be that we stand behind them and will not tolerate any online abuse or violence that jeopardizes their opportunities in a world that is increasingly online.

In your statement announcing your decision, you wrote, "SXSW prides itself on being a big tent and a marketplace of diverse people and diverse ideas." In order to live up to that, you have a professional and moral obligation to ensure that SXSW remains open to everyone and that you do not reinforce the objectives of those who use criminal behavior to undermine the ability of those with a different opinion to participate. I hope that you will immediately rec***ider your decision.