Steps to take to safeguard virtual meetings and events

If the meeting is being recorded it is Important to let attendees or speakers aware of this and get their permission. You should also make the relevant people aware if the content is going to be shared after and ask them if there are any particular parts they do not want to be shared that can then be edited out.
During question and answer sessions try not to share the name of any individual who has asked a question as they may wish to remain anonymous. If you are going to share names then check with the attendees first to get their permission.
Although unlikely, it is important to ensure that attendees know that antisocial behaviour and rude comments will not be tolerated at virtual events. If they do occur, the person initiating the behaviour should be removed from the chat and talked to about the incident separately.
If young people from your community are joining in with the event then make sure they are joining with a parent or carer or that one of the team members or hosts has a valid DBS certificate.
In order to ensure there are no unwanted participants in your meeting or event it can be useful to set a password for the meeting that can be shared with participants upon sign up for the event. Alternatively you can email this to those who have signed up to maximise privacy and security.
Make sure that the chat is monitored if there is one. As a host you are often able to remove participants ability to privately message other attendees. It is also important that if you are running any breakout sessions that a member of the hosting organisation is present as an ‘authority’ figure.
Make sure you know what to do if a disclosure takes place. A disclosure is a piece of sensitive personal information that an individual may tell you, for example they may disclose something that suggests the intention of causing harm to themselves or others. Disclosures like this must be handled very carefully and if someone discloses sensitive information to you it is important that you know how to handle that information to keep both you and them safe. It is therefore important that your organisation has safeguarding policies in place to make everyone aware of the best practice for these situations. To find out more about getting started with safeguarding you can look at this feature on the NCVO website or Bond offers free safeguarding templates.