Karen Aroesty was settling in front of her computer for what counts these days as normal.
A Zoom meeting.
The ubiquitous video meeting software has become the country’s lifeline. It’s how teachers talk to students, employees talk to bosses, family members stay in touch, faith leaders talk to their flocks and community organizations conduct meetings.
That’s what Aroesty was doing, talking with members of the .
They were discussing xenophobia amid the coronavirus pandemic, a particular problem for Asian Americans, who have faced as the president and others seek to refer to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus.â€
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On this day, though, there was an attack of a different kind.
Porn.
“It turned really ugly, really fast,†Aroesty recalled.
Lots of it. Loud, in-your-face, offensive porn, taking over the Zoom video meeting and forcing its leaders to shut it down.
It’s called “†and the tactic has become a bit of a national epidemic as the nation turns to technology to stay in touch.
“It assaulted your senses,†Aroesty remembered. “The only option was to shut the whole thing down.â€
As regional director of the , Aroesty knew too well what was happening. One of the most insidious forms of Zoombombing has been for anti-Semitic groups to target Jewish organizations holding synagogue services or other meetings with members of their faith.
Last week, for instance, a local synagogue was holding a Shabbat service when an anti-Semite joined under an assumed name. He started posting hateful comments in the chat before the synagogue leaders could shut down the video.
On the ADL’s website, the organization to increase security on the Zoom platform, for those who are using it as their lifeline during this time of unprecedented isolation. Among the proposed measures:
Assign two co-hosts; require per-meeting IDs; mute all participants and control chat access; disable file transfer and screen sharing for nonhosts. Washington University also has posted suggestions on its website to increase Zoom security, as multiple university and school groups around the country have been Zoombombed. Among those proposals are to use the waiting room feature to control who joins the group and to keep links to Zoom meetings private.
In New York, the current national epicenter of the pandemic, Zoombombing has become so bad that the the software’s use for online learning.
For some organizations using Zoom to connect, the additional security can be problematic, because it limits participation.
“These can be really wonderful learning spaces,†Aroesty said.
Indeed, from Alcoholics Anonymous groups, to churches, synagogues and mosques, nonprofits and schools, the Zoom platform has become a universal connector. On a more personal level, it can help unite family members through daily chats while they are separated to keep each other safe.
The Department of Justice has issued warnings that hacking such a platform is a crime, and Zoom has said the company is taking steps to make it more difficult for those with bad intentions to hijack meetings.
Still, Aroesty said, it’s a reminder that to protect the vulnerable around us, we all have to be more intentional about our actions.
That’s similar to advice Aroesty often gives as she battles the rise of anti-Semitism in America.
Be intentional with your words. Be intentional with your actions. Be aware, she says, of an increase in anti-Semitism in recent years. The ADL has recorded nearly a year in 2017 and 2018 in the U.S., marked most sadly by the deadly attacks on synagogues in Pittsburgh and New York.
Increasingly, the ADL reports, anti-Semites are turning to technology as a way to weaponize their hate, whether it’s on Twitter or robocalls or, now, Zoom.
It’s an old battle during new, anxious times.
As has become the universal sign off to conversations these days: Be safe.