Pornography and racist messages disrupt online Sacramento City Council debate

A Sacramento City Council election forum in Natomas turned chaotic Wednesday when online guests shared pornographic images, threatening remarks and racist messages to candidates.

About 45 people attended the Zoom forum hosted by the Natomas Community Association to listen to Sacramento City Council District 3 candidates Michael Lynch and Karina Talamantes. The district includes South Natomas, Gardenland, Northgate and part of North Natomas.

Members of the public were asked to turn off their cameras and mute themselves to help the candidates focus, said association President Sachiko Konatsu. To make the event run more smoothly, the candidates were given administrative co-host privileges on the Zoom call, allowing them to unmute and answer questions directly.

That access also allowed members of the public to send direct messages to the candidates.

Talamantes said she received several sexually explicit and sexist messages. Lynch received one message that said “kill Black people” and another that just said a racial slur.

“It was in the beginning (of the forum) and it threw me off,” said Lynch, who is Black. “That hasn’t been a response I’ve received since my college football days.”

At least one online guest also displayed pornography on their screen during the event while Talamantes was speaking, she said, and someone else held up a phone that appeared to show a sexual acronym.

Lynch and Talamantes both noted during the forum they had received inappropriate comments, and perpetrators were kicked out within minutes, Konatsu said. The event continued afterward.

The association has a recording of the video forum, and will contact the Sacramento Police Department to report the incident, Konatsu added.

“If there’s any way we can prosecute them, we fully intend to do that,” Konatsu said. “I have small children, and what these people did is not OK at any level, and it’s embarrassing for our community as a whole.”

Zoombombing, the act of displaying unwanted and inappropriate material in video conferencing calls, became widespread when the coronavirus pandemic first shut down in-person events and government meetings.

While Zoombombing may involve bad actors and hackers unaffiliated with the event, Konatsu said it’s unclear whether Natomas residents were among the people who harassed the candidates.

Talamantes said that as a woman, and as a woman running for office, harassing comments and attacks is nothing new.

But the incident made clear that community associations need to be better equipped with tools to ensure virtual town halls and debates can run without bullying or harassment, she said.

That includes helping associations pay for licensed Zoom accounts that have more control over settings, Talamantes said.

“This is the type of stuff we need to highlight,” Talamantes said. “It’s uncomfortable and it’s scary and it’s unacceptable, but you have got to stay focused and keep plugging away.”

This story was originally published April 28, 2022 at 5:05 PM.