If you are in the middle of a Zoombombing, the fastest way to intervene is to Suspend Participant Activities
How to Suspend Participant Activities
- Press the Security button and click on “Suspend Participant Activities.” This feature is available to Hosts and Co-Hosts.
- Upon activation, all user video, user audio, in-meeting chat, screen sharing, annotation, and profile images will stop.
- This gives the Host or Co-Host an opportunity to Report and Remove any offenders.
- When ready, the Host or Co-Host can unmute their own audio and video to continue the meeting.
Individual ways to recover and preventive steps you can take to avoid Zoombombing
Audio interruptions - unmuting and speaking during the meeting
- Individual: Press Participants, locate a specific individual, press Mute.
- Preventative: Press Participants, then Mute All. On the pop-up, uncheck “Allow participants to unmute themselves.”
Video interruptions - displaying inappropriate video or gestures in a live or virtual background
- Individual: Press Participants, locate a specific individual, press Stop Video.
- Preventative: Under the “More” menu, enable “Focus Mode” to Spotlight all speakers while hiding all Profile photos and video from other participants. Only the Hosts and Co-Host can see all participant videos.
Chat interruptions - typing something inappropriate or using private chat to harass other students
- Individual: There is no option to delete individual chat messages. Follow the steps below to redirect all chat messages to Host and Co-Host.
- Preventative: Press Chat then the menu (…) on bottom right to manage Chat settings. Activate the setting “Participants can chat with: Hosts and Co-Hosts.”
Screen share interruptions - sharing inappropriate content with all attendees
- Individual: Press the Security button and under “Allow Participants to” uncheck the box next to “Share Screen.”
- Preventative: The default is to only allow the host to share. If a non-Host needs to share screen, temporarily make them a Co-Host then remove the privilege when done sharing.
Annotation interruptions - drawing something inappropriate on the screen during a screen share (this feature is disabled by default)
- Individual: If annotations are enabled during a screen share, under the Security button, uncheck “Annotate on Shared Content.”
- Preventative: Before your next meeting, visit berkeley.zoom.us, click Sign In, go to Settings, Under “Annotation,” after enabling, check the option “Only the user who is sharing can annotate.”
Profile Photo interruptions - displaying an inappropriate profile photo
- Preventative: Under Security, check the option to “Hide Profile Photos.” Profile photos will be replaced with the name.
Content for this article graciously provided by UC Irvine.