Facebook is the latest tech company to cancel an event due to the coronavirus outbreak. F8 was originally scheduled to take place on May 5th and May 6th later this year, but it’s not going to happen this year. Facebook said that the “growing concerns around COVID-19” made it necessary to cancel the “in-person” component of F8, though the company is planning locally-hosted events and livestreamed content to try and make up for skipping the main part of the conference. Facebook is also donating $500,000 to an organization that promotes diversity in the tech industry most years, the company donates a portion of ticket sales, but with no in-person event it’s just making a flat donation instead.
The full statement is below:
In light of the growing concerns around COVID-19, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel the in-person component of F8 this year, in order to prioritize the health and safety of our developer partners, employees and everyone who helps put F8 on. We plan to replace the in-person F8 event with locally hosted events, videos and live-streamed content.
Of course, Facebook is hardly the first to make such a move. MWC, which takes place in Barcelona at the end of February, was cancelled after multiple high-profile companies pulled out. Similarly, many companies are deciding to pass up on exhibiting at the GDC conference in San Francisco next month Sony, Facebook and Microsoft have all decided not to participate.
At this point, it’s fair to wonder if some of the spring’s other marquee tech events, like Microsoft Build and Google I/O, will be happening. These cancellations we’ve seen thus far this year highlight how the global health community doesn’t quite have a handle on the coronavirus spread, something that’s probably making participants and organizers alike reluctant to take part in events like F8.
