U of Sask. event Zoom-bombed by racist, disturbing imagery

A University of Saskatchewan event was disrupted by "racist and deeply inappropriate" imagery and video on Thursday, a statement from the university confirmed. 

University President Peter Stoicheff was presenting the General Academic Assembly, or GAA, Thursday afternoon. 

The event, an update on the state of the Sasktoon university, had a portion that was meant to be online, only for the presentation to be interrupted by pornography and racist imagery. 

It's an incident that has all the hallmarks of a Zoom-bombing — where participants in a meeting over a video conferencing platform have their screens highjacked by malicious actors who place words and images on the screen or create havoc with the call's audio. 

It became increasingly more common during the COVID-19 pandemic with the reliance on video-conferencing platforms. 

Thursday's event was quickly shut down by organizers, and an announcement was distributed to the university community to provide those affected with resources if they need them. 

A statement provided by the University of Saskatchewan says Saskatoon Police Services are working with the school to investigate and identify those responsible. 

A preliminary investigation has determined there is no risk to the University of Saskatchewan's IT system at this time, the university said. 

"We want our faculty, staff, students, and visitors to feel safe and respected while on our campuses, whether in person or remotely," the statement by the University of Saskatchewan read. 

The school is also exploring other safety measures that could be implemented at university-related events in the future.