Zoombombing During a Global Pandemic

Abstract

Using a digital methods analysis, the following article conducts a cross-platform study of the emergent “Zoombombing” phenomenon alongside COVID-19 and the concomitant on-lining of professional and public life. This empirical study seeks to provide further insight to media frames characterizing Zoombombing at the outbreak of the pandemic, providing further insight into Zoombombing as a practice, how related actions act as an extension of longer histories and practices of online harassment, and the role that various platforms play in the phenomenon’s unfolding. By interrogating these points of departure, our study sheds light not only on Zoombombing as a cultural practice, but also how these acts manifest within and across a range of Internet platforms.