Coronavirus fears: Facebook cancels San Francisco summit, IBM pulls out of cybersecurity conference

According to a report in The San Francisco Chronicle, Facebook has cancelled the event scheduled from March 9-12. Over 5,000 participants were expected to attend the event.

After Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona 2020 conference, Coronavirus has derailed Facebook’s Global Marketing Summit in San Francisco. (Samir Jana / Hindustan Times)

After Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona 2020 conference, Coronavirus has derailed Facebook's Global Marketing Summit in San Francisco.

According to a report in The San Francisco Chronicle, Facebook has cancelled the event scheduled from March 9-12 here. Over 5,000 participants were expected to attend the event.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we cancelled our Global Marketing Summit due to evolving public health risks related to coronavirus," a spokesperson was quoted as saying in the report on Friday.

"Facebook is committed to holding the event in San Francisco in the future," the company added.

IBM said it has cancelled its participation in the RSA cybersecurity conference here from February 24-28 due to concerns over China virus outbreak.

"The health of IBMers is our primary concern as we continue to monitor upcoming events and travel relative to Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)", the company tweeted.

The RSA, however, said it will continue with the event despite IBM pulling out.

On Thursday, the organiser of the world's biggest phone show 'Mobile World Congress' 2020 cancelled the annual event in Barcelona in the wake of the Novel Coronavirus fears which saw several top exhibitors and tech companies pulling out of the event.

Other events postponed or cancelled include Chinese Grand Prix, the Black Hat information security conference's Asia summit; London Metal Exchange's annual Asian gathering in Hong Kong and Art Basel's annual art fair in Hong Kong, among others.

The novel coronavirus that originated in the Wuhan area of China in December 2019 has spread to over 25 countries, raising safety concerns and impacting businesses in many parts of the world.

The virus has so far killed over 1,300 people and left several thousands infected.