Zoom Bomber Interrupts Virtual Town Hall With Disturbing Images

GILROY, CA — A virtual town hall meeting hosted on Zoom and Facebook Live by Gilroy city officials Monday night was interrupted by disturbing child pornography images that were viewed by approximately 100 people and that has led the city to postpone similar meetings until further notice.

Monday night’s meeting involved various city department heads answering questions from local residents before a hacker was able to display the images about 20 minutes into the meeting. The practice, known as “Zoom Bombing” has drawn the attention of the FBI, which has offered guidance on what should be done in cases such as the one that occurred with Monday’s Straight Talk virtual meeting.

City officials issued a statement on Monday night shortly after the “disturbing incident” took place.

“Despite our quickest efforts, immediately shutting the meeting down, this imagery still made it to the public who were viewing and participating in the meeting,” the statement read. “We extend our deepest apologies to the community and all those affected by this disturbing incident. We will be evaluating security protocols for virtual meetings to prevent this type of incident in the future. As for now, Straight Talk with the City of Gilroy is postponed until further notice.”

A message seeking further comment from Gilroy city officials on Tuesday was not immediately returned.