In the battle over hate speech at Bay Area public meetings, are the Zoombombers winning?
When Zoom meeting attendees start raising virtual 'hands' to speak during Walnut Creek City Council meetings, administrators have few options but t...
When Zoom meeting attendees start raising virtual 'hands' to speak during Walnut Creek City Council meetings, administrators have few options but to sit in mortified silence as extremists and other online trolls spew hate speech, usually under the cover of anonymity. These 'Zoombombing' incidents are on the rise, and officials around the Bay Area are throwing up their hands in frustration — with many unplugging from remote comments altogether. Last week, Walnut Creek became the latest city to announce that council and commission meetings will no longer be accessible via Zoom — joining a growing list of local governments that are able to legally make the change after California's COVID-era emergency orders expired.