The city of Walnut Creek is ending virtual public comments during city council meetings due to “zoom-bombing” by anonymous users spewing some hate speech. Pete Suratos reports.
The city of Walnut Creek is ending virtual public comments during City Council meetings due to “Zoom-bombing” by anonymous users spewing hate speech.
One incident was caught on video from a Walnut Creek City Council meeting last June. That’s when an anonymous caller made some offensive remarks during a virtual public comment.
What was once a useful tool during the pandemic is quickly becoming a pulpit for hate speech. But it recently took a dark turn when a Zoom caller released some personal information about a councilmember.
“They had gone to another level where they announced an address that was a private home,” said Walnut Creek Mayor Cindy Silva.
Silva says the City Council is ending virtual public comment during meetings due to the hate speech, and unfortunately, the city is not alone.
“El Cerrito stands united against hate,” said El Cerrito Mayor Lisa Motoyama.
Motoyama announced during Tuesday night’s El Cerrito council meeting that the city is also ending virtual public comment after dealing with a similar experience.
Local
Sonoma County’s Board of Supervisors is doing the same. The board released the following statement:
“The change is due to the escalating challenges of maintaining civility among those who participate in the public comment portion of the board meeting via Zoom.”
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
During Tuesday night’s Richmond City Council meeting, a Zoom caller used the virtual public comment to make offensive remarks about the LGBTQ community.
Cesar Zepeda, who is Richmond’s first openly gay man to serve on the council, says the city will now have to discuss the future of virtual public comment at its next meeting on Oct. 17.
“It sounds like they just have some kind of agenda where they probably want to go to every city council meeting and try to stir things up,” he said.