WHAT ARE DISRUPTORS & HOW DO THEY WORK? These are normally a swarm of people that come in and highjack a meeting with undesirable behaviours. We have determined that they usually send a few scouts (2-5) ahead into a meeting. They come in to see what security features are in place. They will test the system to see what is available to them. If the meeting is not protected, they will then call in their friends. Anywhere from 10-15 more zoom-intruders can then storm in all at once to cause as much havoc as they possibly can. We have also ascertained that if we take away their ‘toys’, or their ability to cause disruptions at a meeting, they get bored and move along. Once our meetings were locked down and monitored, the attacks seemed to dissipate right away.
SECURITY SHIELD: The host or security co-host SETS UP all of the following security features located under security shield BEFORE THE MEETING BEGINS.
- Uncheck “Lock Meeting”
- Uncheck “Enable Waiting Room”
- Uncheck “Hide Profile Pictures”
- Uncheck “Share Screen”
- Check “Chat”
- Uncheck “Rename Themselves”
- Check “Unmute Themselves”
- Uncheck “Start Video”
- *Remove Participant – DO NOT USE – if anything, place them in a breakout room or in the Waiting Room
- Uncheck “Suspend Participant Activity”
Q: Should I remove a disruptor from the meeting? Why not just remove a person?
A: It COULD go against the Traditions. We can too easily make a mistake and end up banning a fellow sufferer from attending a meeting on this platform ever again!
UPON A DISRUPTIVE INCIDENT:
a) scan “participants” list, see if you can, in a few seconds, determine who is disrupting by looking at active microphones.
b) check “Suspend Participant Activity” (This stops disruptions by disabling all non-hosts to speak, share video, chat, or share screen)
c) uncheck “Chat”
d) unmute yourself and say:
: “Security measures are now active, please stand by, we’re working to safe the meeting, no need to leave”
e) post to chat to EVERYONE.
f) check “Enable Waiting Room”
g) send the one or more disruptors to the waiting room, if you have determined who is likely a disruptor.
h) uncheck “Suspend Participant Activity”
i) unmute and say:
: “Hosts, let’s try to resume the meeting now. Chat will be disabled until the end of the meeting.” At this point, the hosts will resume conducting the meeting.
j) if disruptions re-occur, immediaely start over at a) above.
k) for each suspected disrupter in the waiting room (note that new folks will also be arriving into the waiting room) directly message them:
: “Our meeting was just disrupted, please turn on your video to be let into the meeting from the waiting room, it will turn off upon entry”
For new persons entering the waiting room, wait 10-15 seconds and then let them into the meeting, without asking them to turn on their video. If you strongly suspect someone entering into the waiting room was a disrupter, do not let them in the meeting, rather, direct message them:
: “Sorry, you are suspected of being a disruptor and will not be allowed into this meeting. If you are not a disruptor, we are sincerely sorry this is happening to you; it’s our best effort to keep the meeting safe, and you will NOT be considered a suspected disruptor once this meeting is over”
Complete step k) for each suspect in WAITING.
l) for the rest of the meeting, leave the waiting room enabled, and let each new waiting room name into the meeting after a 15-second waiting period.
m) if more disruptions occur, start over with a) above.
REMEMBER, if you disabled chat during the meeting, re-enable chat as the meeting starts wrapping up to enable folks to vent, to support and seek support, to share contact info, etc.
IF DISRUPTIONS PERSIST AND YOU CAN’T QUELL THEM AFTER 4-5 MINUTES USING EFFORTS ABOVE (IT MAY TAKE THIS LONG):
n) check “Lock Meeting” (uggh, the dreaded lock meeting!)
IF DISRUPTIONS PERSIST FOR ANOTHER 5 MINUTES WITH MEETING LOCKED, suggest to the host that the meeting be ended prematurely, inviting all to join us next week. (uggh uggh, even MORE dreaded!)
AT THE END OF THE MEETING: If your room was locked during the meeting, be sure to adjust the settings to unlock it again before leaving, or others will not be able to get into the zoom room after you. To do so, make sure the “Lock Meeting” is unchecked in the security shield area.
NOTES:
A. If waiting room was enabled, pay attention to the new names in the waiting room. Look at their names first. Intruders often use slurs in their name, insulting terms, or weird spellings. Do they have a real name, phone number, picture, where they’re from, last initial? (These are good signs.) An unusual name does not mean they are a intruder.
B. Making all entrants wait 10-15 seconds or so will not be exclusive, as ACA members will be patient and wait. Intruders usually won’t wait.
C. If disruptions are persisting, bring new entrants into the meeting, one by one. As you bring them into the meeting room, hover your mouse over the three dots to be ready to remove them to the waiting room, or be on the ready to utilize the Suspend Participant Activity feature if the need should arise.
D. Intruders will often test the meeting to see what they can get away with, before they call in their buddies.
E. If your meeting was disrupted, after the meeting (and after the intruders are no longer there) encourage members to stay for fellowship time following the meeting to “debrief”. It is important for members to talk, reach out and support each other, to help process emotions and to maintain their mental health. If fellowshipping is frought with a lot of intense reacting and/or interrupting, the host should moderate the fellowshiping time and may consider implementing the “Raised Hand” feature to safeguard this time of fellowship.