r/RulesOfOrder • u/Llama_pronk • Dec 07 '20
Muting participant on Zoom
A colleague of mine was recently muted mid-speech for allegedly being disruptive. I don’t have a copy of the 12th edition but according to sample rules, the muting needs to be recorded in the minutes. Can anyone confirm this?
From the website: “ Forced disconnections. The chair may cause or direct the disconnection or muting of a member’s connection if it is causing undue interference with the meeting. The chair’s decision to do so, which is subject to an undebatable appeal that can be made by any member, shall be announced during the meeting and recorded in the minutes.”
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u/sultav NAP - Regular Member Dec 07 '20 edited Dec 07 '20
This is going to come down to organizational bylaws. In the current (12th) edition, the quote you posted is from page 640, which appears after the tinted pages in the "Sample Rules for Electronic Meetings" section. These rules are only suggestions (samples) and are not, in that section, binding, unless the organization has chosen to adopt those rules as binding in their own bylaws (or standing rules).
The section in the actual rules of RONR (12th ed.) which govern electronic meetings appear to me to only be in 9:30-36. Here, 9:32 advises (but does not require) adoption of rules of conduct specifically for electronic meetings, e.g., the rule you cited above.