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The New Zealand Herald
The New Zealand Herald
World

University lecturer resigns after students see porn website bookmarked on his screen

A lecturer at a US university has resigned after an unfortunate X-rated incident occurred on his screen while taking an online class.

University of Miami instructor John Peng Zhang was teaching a business analytics class over Zoom when he shared his screen with his students.

But on his screen students could see a pornographic website had been bookmarked.

The bookmark read "Busty college girl fu...".

One student, whose microphone was left on, pointed out the tab for the whole class to hear.

However, Zhang wasn't aware of the bookmark and continued lecturing the class.

University of Miami business professor John Peng Zhang has resigned after he was caught having a porn bookmark in his browser for 'busty college girls'.

In the meantime, students snapped photos and videos of the March 26 incident.

By the end of the class session, videos of Zhang's screen started to spread on social media, notably first on TikTok.

But the bookmark remained on Zhang's screen for another evening session, giving students more opportunity to spread the gaffe on social media.

"It was insane ... it blew up," freshman business law major Samantha Hill, a student in one of Zhang's classes, told the university newspaper.

The original TikTok video gained more than 800,000 views in a matter of hours.

A day later Zhang addressed the issue with his class, saying "I didn't see it, I'm pretty sure everybody else did ... My apologies to the class".

Students then received an email from the head of department telling them their next class was cancelled.

Zhang wasn't seen again.

The student who posted the original video said he posted it for a laugh but soon removed it after realising the potential implications after it went viral.

"I felt bad about the attention it was getting I didn't want him to lose his job ... I thought he would be fine ... I felt really bad for him."

A University of Miami professor has resigned after students noticed a porn bookmark describing 'busty college girls' on his internet browser during a Zoom video conference class.

Zhang has since been removed from the school website.

The university confirmed Wednesday that Zhang left the university after his gaffe was exposed.

'The University of Miami aggressively investigates all complaints of inappropriate behaviour or sexual harassment," according to a school statement.

"After receiving a complaint through the University's ethics hotline, the incident was investigated by the Office of the Provost, Title IX investigator and Miami Herbert Business School. The University can confirm that John Peng Zhang resigned and is no longer employed at the University of Miami."

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