The rise of the popular video app “Zoom” amid the coronavirus pandemic has led to a wave of internet trolls interrupting online meetings. But FBI officials say some “Zoom bombers” aren’t just pranking people but instead sharing messages of hate. NBC10’s Drew Smith has the details.
Delaware congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester said she, Philadelphia Congressman Dwight Evans and members of the Delaware Legislative Black Caucus for Delaware small businesses were victims of a racist and sexist “Zoom-bombing” during a video call Wednesday night.
Rochester (D-Del.) said she was participating in a Zoom meeting when an unidentified person interrupted the call with a racist and hateful message.
“It was racist, it was sexist, it was immature,” Rochester said. “My first reaction was not to be upset - my first reaction was that we will not let hate take us down. I think that that is the message right now for this whole epidemic.”
Zoom has been a popular video conferencing service for friends, families, businesses and schools amid the coronavirus pandemic. Yet the rise in popularity has also given way to an increase in “zoom-bombings,” sudden interruptions by internet trolls and hackers with vulgar and at times hateful messages.
Rochester later released a YouTube video addressing Wednesday’s incident.
“And for anybody who wants to continue to spread that kind of - you know - it's one thing to have a different opinion,” she said. “We're all entitled to that. But for those of you who just don’t get it - why we’re on this planet - I feel sorry for you, I pray for you, but I want you to know you will not steal our joy.”
