FENWICK ISLAND, Del. - Public meetings in Fenwick Island have been disrupted at least three times this summer by “Zoom bombing” incidents in which pornographic content was streamed to viewers, town officials said.
Zoom bombing refers to when unauthorized individuals join livestreamed public meetings, often government sessions, and display inappropriate words, images or videos.
Fenwick Island Police Chief Michael Morrissey said the most recent incident occurred Tuesday during a Dark Sky event, forcing the town to cut off the Zoom feed and issue a notice to the public.
“We opened up the meeting, and pornography has been transmitted over our Zoom meeting,” Morrissey said. “We’ve been able to shut it down pretty quickly, but it’s an inconvenience and embarrassment to all watching.”
The town has deleted recordings of the three meetings in which explicit videos were shown.
Fenwick Island Police Chief Michael Morrissey said the most recent incident occurred Tuesday during a Dark Sky event, forcing the town to cut off the Zoom feed and issue a notice to the public.
Resident Glenn Horenberg said livestream access is particularly important for the coastal community, where many people live only part-time. “Since COVID, it was a regular tool that we used, and it’s a great communication tool that lets people who can’t be there, be there,” Horenberg said. “I don’t know why people would want to do that. It’s terrible.”
Morrissey said police are working with an information technology team to trace the incidents to their source. “We are actively working on getting the IP addresses of the senders of the Zoom bombs,” he said. “Once we acquire the IP addresses, we’ll be launching a full investigation and tracing those IP addresses back to the computers where they’re coming from.”
If identified, those responsible could face criminal charges, Morrissey said. Mayor Natalie Magdeburger has warned that if the disruptions continue, the town may consider switching to a different livestreaming platform.