The Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting came to a halt Thursday, following a five minute disruption filled with sexist and racist slurs from unknown intruders, or so-called 'Zoombombers'.
After the pause, the department booted the offending members from the Zoom teleconference call and suspended comment in a chat box.
Following the meeting, State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister said she was disappointed in the disruption, but it was just a difficult fact of life.
"This is, I think not uncommon and something we seek to address in the future. But we do what we must do in the midst of reality," Hofmeister said.
Though the Zoom platform has been a handy one for public meetings moved online because of coronavirus, it is a common target for security breaches. Cybersecurity experts as well as the FBI have advised Zoom users to take special measures to ensure privacy. But that is a difficult task when trying to keep public meetings open to everyone.
