SAN JOSE, Calif. — A Thursday evening town hall videoconference on sexual violence in the San Francisco Bay Area was targeted by a hacker, who posted a video depicting child sexual abuse in the public meeting, forcing its abrupt end.
The community-organized event was intended to allow sexual assault survivors a chance to share their stories in a public forum, and allow Contra Costa residents to question local elected officials about resources and county efforts to fight sexual violence, domestic abuse and human trafficking. It was held April 30 as the finale to Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Instead, minutes into the meeting, an unidentified user posted what was described by several people with firsthand knowledge of the meeting as an extremely graphic child porn video that traumatized numerous attendees.
It has been interpreted as an attack on sexual assault survivors; the content appeared geared toward the meeting’s attendees, and the hacker posted the video several times. The organizers, undeterred, are already planning a follow-up event.
The Contra Costa district attorney is aware of the matter, a spokesperson for the office said.
“We are horrified about what occurred during one of our partner’s town hall event promoting Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The intrusion further emphasizes the importance of programs that combat and prevent sexual violence, including the prosecution of those who exploit children,” the spokesperson, Scott Alonso, said. “We know that the panelists worked hard to put together a wonderful program and would be happy to help them put additional security features in place for any future events.”
The meeting was hosted on Zoom, the video group chat application that has risen to prominence amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“This incident is truly devastating and appalling, and our user policies explicitly prohibit any obscene, indecent, illegal or violent activity or content on the platform. We are looking into this specific incident to ensure the appropriate action is taken,” CJ Lin, a spokesperson for Zoom said in an email. “Zoom strongly condemns such behavior and recently updated several features to help our users more easily protect their meetings.”
The town hall’s organizers said they won’t let the hacker’s actions deter future town halls.
The panelists for Thursday’s meeting included 10 elected officials, and sexual assault survivors were invited to share their stories with the attendees. It was supported by the county’s Family Justice Center, and was to include a presentation by Community Group Solutions, which provides services for sexual assault survivors.
This is far from the first time public meetings on Zoom have been infiltrated.
There have been several reported instances where so-called “Zoom bombers” have disrupted meetings with pranks, such as shouting swear words. But in April, Berkeley school officials asked teachers to stop using video conferencing after two students “behaved inappropriately” and an adult “Zoom-bombed” an instructional session. Berkeley Unified Superintendent Brent Stephens said police are investigating the adult for “illegal activity.”
In January, a Stanislaus County man was sentenced to 16 years in prison in a child porn case that started when authorities infiltrated a “Zoom room,” which was operated by pedophiles sharing child sexual abuse material.
“For all users, we have made the Zoom Meeting ID less visible to help prevent unintended sharing, and we have added a new security icon to the Zoom meeting controls for all hosts to help them quickly access in-meeting security features, including the ability to remove participants and lock meetings, among other actions,” Lin said, later adding, “We encourage users to report any incidents of this kind either to Zoom so we can take appropriate action or directly to law enforcement authorities.”
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(Staff writer David DeBolt contributed to this story.)
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