NEW: Rhode Island “Zoom Rally” to Kick Off 2020 Census Count Hacked on Wednesday
Wednesday, April 01, 2020
Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza was one of the elected officials billed as taking part in the online "rally" that was hacked. Photo: GoLocalProv.com
The event, billed as being hosted by the Providence City Council, Mayor Jorge Elorza, Mayor Diossa and the RI Complete Count Committee, was trolled by meeting attendees who posted racist and expletive-filled messages during the online event.
"F--k [n-word]" was posted on the public forum, along with explicit photos.
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"FBI warns of hackers hijacking online Zoom meetings, classes,' warned the New York Post on Tuesday.
City Council Press Secretary Billy Kepner provided the following statement.
"When you do anything with the public, people can access it, and unfortunately it happened," said Kepner. "We removed it as quickly as we could. That's a problem with using a [video-conferencing] service."
"This wasn't a hack -- this was someone who logged on,' said Kepner. "There were people doing and showing inappropriate things and we removed them immediately."
"This is the challenge people will have using Zoom or [similar services]," said Kepner. "Most people were looking at the main screen where the speakers were and I removed [the offending] profiles as quickly as I could."
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About Zoom Rally
The rally was billed as a way to organize Rhode Island elected officials and community leaders to encourage participation in the 2020 census count.
The City Council released the following before the online meeting.
Results from the Census will help determine the amount of federal funding Rhode Island gets for schools, roads, housing, SNAP, park improvements, and more for the next ten years. In fact, Rhode Island receives $3.8 billion (yes, with a “B”) each year to support these critical public resources that benefit all of us.
"The Census is easy to complete and is essential to maintaining services and programs our families, friends, and neighbors rely on," said Mayor Jorge O. Elorza of Providence.
