Cisco and Sony postpone events due to ongoing protests

Sony postpones event to “stand back and allow more important voices to be heard.”

2 Jun 2020

As nationwide protests related to the death of George Floyd continue, many tech companies have chosen to postpone events scheduled later this week. On Monday, Cisco joined Sony, Electronic Arts and Google by delaying Cisco Live.

In a YouTube video, CEO Chuck Robbins called the death of Floyd, as well as Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, "horrific, maddening and truly abhorrent.”

"People across the US and the world are dealing with so much pain, frustration and anger," Robbins added. "We want to give you space this week to do what you need to do within your own organizations and communities."

Sony made a similar announcement on Monday. In a tweet, Sony said it would delay Thursday's PlayStation 5 event, saying it was postponing the event to "stand back and allow more important voices to be heard.”

Google has also postponed the Android 11 beta launch event originally scheduled for June 3. “We are excited to tell you more about Android 11, but now is not the time to celebrate,” the event website now reads.

Fans of the Madden football franchise will have to hang tight as Electronic Arts has postponed the release of Madden 21 too.

“We stand with our African American/Black community of friends, players, colleagues and partners. Our immediate attention is on actions we can take to drive change against the unjust treatment and systemic bias that is plaguing the nation and our world,” EA stated on Twitter.

The May 25 death of George Floyd has led to nationwide protests. Floyd died during an arrest by a Minneapolis police officer. The arrest, along with Floyd’s death, was caught on video and later spread like wildfire across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Reddit.

The officer involved in Floyd’s death has since been charged with third-degree murder, but protestors calling for additional action related to the prevalence of police brutality in black communities.