The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF), the country’s EJC affiliate, has welcome a new update of the video conference platform Zoom, which allows users to report unwanted users and remove them from meetings.
In a statement, the CRIF expressed hopes that the update will allow users to continue with video conferencing on Zoom with greater serenity.
The update comes after the CRIF addressed the Director of Zoom France, Loïc Rousseau, on recent Zoombombing incidents which shocked internet users.
Harmful content, including child pornography was broadcast by unwelcome users during various video conferences, notably during a religious course given by the former Chief Rabbi of Israel to the French-speaking Jewish community.
Rousseau strongly condemned this new act of Zoombombing and explained that recent features had been implemented to ensure the safety of users. The CRIF remains in regular contact with Zoom France.
In addition, the CRIF would like to remind Zoom users that, on the Internet as in “non-virtual” life, holding events requires organizational and security measures. These measures are recalled in a dedicated document proposed by the SPCJ.
The Zoom platform has become widely popular in the face of the exceptional health situation that the world currently faces. since the beginning of the lockdowns, the number of Zoom users has multiplied by 20, going from 10 million users in December 2019 to 200 million users today.
