After activists earlier this year accused Austin's SXSW festival of being"complicit in human rights abuses," organizers of the annual gathering revealed that, starring next year, the U.S. Army and arms manufacturers will no longer be welcome as sponsors."After careful consideration, we are revising our sponsorship model," SXSW posted."As a result, the U.S. Army and companies who engage in weapons manufacturing, will not be sponsors of SXSW 2025.
"Austin is fed up with the normalization of militarization at SXSW and platforming war profiteers who are making a killing from the genocide in Palestine," Austin for Palestine wrote in a "We commend SXSW for listening to the demands of the artists," the coalition wrote Wednesday."We urge SXSW to give further clarification regarding refusing to invite war profiteers as exhibitors or speakers."
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