This Zoom trick would have spared swearing politician’s blushes

As BBC News reports, Welsh health minister Vaughan Gething made a schoolboy error while on a Zoom call earlier today.

Jenny Rathbone, a member of the National Assembly for Wales, had been asking questions about the Welsh Government’s Coronavirus response.

Off-camera, Mr Gething could be heard muttering, clearly unaware that his words were being broadcast to everyone attending the conference call:

“What the f*** is the matter with her?”

The minister’s fellow politicians were left open-mouthed, laughing, and – in some cases – covering their faces in embarrassment for him.

The Zoom meeting quickly came to an end, and Ms Rathbone stood up and walked off camera.

It’s the kind of awkward incident which is probably being repeated time and time again around the world as people find themselves using video-conferencing apps to do business as the Coronavirus pandemic prevents face-to-face meetings.

The good news is, it’s an easy problem to fix.

Zoom has a “Push to Talk” feature which ensures that your microphone remains muted throughout your online meeting. If you do want to speak, you simply hold down the space bar to temporarily unmute yourself.

Mr Gething has since tweeted an apology to Ms Rathbone:

I’m obviously embarrassed about my comments at the end of questions today. I’ve sent a message apologising and offered to speak to @JennyRathbone if she wishes to do so. It is an unwelcome distraction at a time of unprecedented challenge.

— Vaughan Gething MS (@vaughangething) April 22, 2020

Let’s hope he’ll take advantage of the “Push to talk” feature next time to prevent future unnecessary embarrassment.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or drop him an email.