BLACK AND LGBT+ students from Edinburgh University were subject to a discriminatory attack on a Zoom meeting.

On Sunday, around 50 people were in attendance at the university’s student union event, which was “hijacked” by racist and sexist groups.

The Zoom meeting, which was organised during Caribbean week and hosted by the university’s African and Caribbean Society (ACS) and other society groups, was not password protected.

The interruption brought one person to tears.

In a statement posted on Instagram, the ACS said: “This was a horrible occurrence that should never be repeated.

“This crime will be reported to the higher authorities.”

One audience member, who asked to remain anonymous, told BBC News that she had felt “helpless” as several people had shouted: “White power,” and made racist threats.

“Horrific” pornography, featuring black individuals, had been displayed, while racist and homophobic slurs had been posted to everyone via Zoom’s chat function.

She added that “even after being kicked out of the event, the attackers rejoined multiple times, through links that had been shared with students at the university.”

Caribbean LGBT rights campaigner, Jason Jones, said to BBC News said he had “never experienced such a horrible attack” in more than 30 years of campaigning.

He called on technology companies to do more to “protect their users” during a pandemic when virtual meetings are the frequent norm.

“This was a virtual hate crime. It was so out of the blue that there was no way of preparing for it. This attack was designed to get under my skin and create fear and intimidation. I have had a very dark and awful emotional response to it. It reduced me to tears,” he said.

In response to the shocking incident, Stonewall’s head of media Jeffrey Ingold said: “It’s vital that tech platforms and universities work together to improve online safety measures and deal with all incidents seriously and swiftly to make clear that anti-LGBT+ and racist abuse online will not be tolerated.”