I read something hopeful, recently, in the NY Times. RFK, Jr, appointee to be secretary of Health and Human Services, is a 12 stepper. I am a 12 stepper.
One thing that has been happening recently is Zoom bombing of 12 step meetings. This is where intruders come in, make loud noises, insult our speakers, and show porn. They often impersonate our members and try to get host codes or personal information. Sometimes there are teams of up to a dozen people who attack a meeting simultaneously. They mute & unmute to move around on the screen. They sometimes show deep fake videos of our members to persuade us to trust them.
These distressing disruptions seem to happen most during school vacations, so I suppose the miscreants are students who get together to coordinate these attacks. They must think it is funny.
It is not. People come to 12 step programs because they are in the throes of life threatening addiction. If you make the meetings unsafe for them, you may kill them. I would like to see Zoom bombers regarded as attempted murderers.
Currently, we have Zoom hosts who remove and report these intruders, but they find ways to come back. I doubt that anyone has actually experienced any real consequences other than perhaps having to create a new e-mail address.
We have to keep access to our meetings fairly public, because we want to attract newcomers. If the meetings are secret, it's hard to get anyone to come.
Perhaps if RFK Jr. is in a position of power, he can actually do something about this problem.
#RFK #12Step #ZoomBombers
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