Federal Reserve virtual event canceled after porn Zoom bomb

An event that was set to take place with Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Thursday was canceled following a pornographic Zoom-bombing incident. 

Waller was set to speak at the virtual event with the Mid-Size Bank Coalition of America, an organization that advocates and serves as a resource for mid-size banks, about the economic outlook going forward. 

But Brent Tjarks, the executive director of the coalition, told Reuters that the group was the “victim of a teleconference or Zoom hijacking.” Tjarks said the group regrets the incident and is working to ensure it does not happen again. 

“We have had various programs, and this is something that we have never had happen to us,” he said. 

A Reuters reporter who was on the call for the event told the outlet that a participant with their name listed as “Dan” began showing graphic, pornographic images on the screen a few minutes before the event was to start. 

Reuters reported that as many as 220 people were on the call before it was ended, and the organizer did not automatically mute microphones and shut off video for participants when they joined. 

A Fed spokesperson told The Hill that “technical difficulties” with the event caused it to be canceled, but Waller’s prepared remarks were posted on the Fed’s website.

Zoom became widely known and used at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, but it has received some criticism over the past couple years for security concerns. Zoom has released updates to improve its security features on multiple occasions during the past few years.