Microsoft are reportedly blocking worker inside work emails that include the phrases “Palestine” or “Gaza”. The report in query comes from No Azure For Apartheid (NOAA), a bunch of Microsoft employees shaped to protest the corporate’s then-alleged supplying of AI tech to the Israeli navy – one thing Microsoft have since confirmed, whereas additionally stating that their very own inside evaluations discovered “no proof so far that Microsoft’s Azure and AI applied sciences have been used to focus on or hurt individuals within the battle in Gaza.”
“NOAA believes that is an try by Microsoft to silence employee free speech and is a censorship enacted by Microsoft management to discriminate towards Palestinian employees and their allies,” spokesperson and former Microsoft worker Hossam Nasr advised The Verge (paywalled) in a press release. Nasr added that “phrases like ‘Israel’ or ‘P4lestine’ don’t set off such a block”.
When requested for remark by The Verge, Microsoft spokesperson Frank Shaw responded with the under:
“Emailing giant numbers of workers about any subject not associated to work will not be acceptable. Now we have a longtime discussion board for workers who’ve opted in to political points. Over the previous couple of days, quite a few politically centered emails have been despatched to tens of hundreds of workers throughout the corporate and we’ve got taken measures to try to cut back these emails to people who haven’t opted in.”
As The Verge notice, the reported e-mail blocks comply with per week of worker protests concerning the firm’s dealings with the Israeli navy. There have additionally been protests throughout Microsoft’s Construct developer convention this week. On Monday, former worker Joe Lopez interrupted CEO Satya Nadella’s keynote by shouting “how about you present Israeli warfare crimes are powered by Azure?”, earlier than sending emails to “hundreds” of colleagues. Microsoft fired Lopez on the identical day.
The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions motion are currently calling on the public to boycott Microsoft’s wares, together with Xbox merchandise like Sport Cross. The BDS organisers embody Nasr and Abdo Mohamed, one other former Microsoft worker. They have been each fired after organising a vigil for Palestinians killed in Gaza exterior the corporate’s Washington HQ.
