Microsoft employees have discovered that any emails they send with the terms “Palestine” or “Gaza” are getting temporarily blocked from being sent to recipients inside and outside the company. The No Azure for Apartheid (NOAA) protest group reports that “dozens of Microsoft workers” have been unable to send emails with the words “'Palestine,” “Gaza,” and “Genocide” in email subject lines or in the body of a message.
“Words like ‘Israel’ or ‘P4lestine’ do not trigger such a block,” say NOAA organizers. “NOAA believes this is an attempt by Microsoft to silence worker free speech and is a censorship enacted by Microsoft leadership to discriminate against Palestinian workers and their allies.”
Microsoft confirmed to The Verge that it has implemented some form of email changes to reduce “politically focused emails” inside the company.
“Emailing large numbers of employees about any topic not related to work is not appropriate. We have an established forum for employees who have opted in to political issues,” says Microsoft spokesperson Frank Shaw in a statement to The Verge. "Over the past couple of days, a number of politically focused emails have been sent to tens of thousands of e …
Read the full story at The Verge.
From The Verge via this RSS feed
Microsoft: what a horrible corporation on every level imaginable.
NOAA believes this is an attempt by Microsoft to silence worker free speech
Not shilling for Microsoft here, but just reminding everyone that that’s not how free speech works.
I’m all for those employees using their collective might through strikes or departures to get Microsoft to cave on this issue, but saying this violates employees freedom of speech is the exact same argument my racist uncle used when he got banned off Facebook.
Unionize and get it in your collective bargaining agreements, otherwise you have no free speech when it comes to your place of employment.
Free speech is a philosophical principle. It isn’t defined by law.
I’d argue it’s a bit of a different situation as saying needless racist shit on Facebook is very different to voices your disagreement that your employer is supporting a literal genocide.
My point wasn’t to equivocate those two things, my point is free speech applies to censorship from the government.
By all means everyone should feel free to boycott Microsoft for taking a pro-genocide stance, but that’s their stance to take as a company.
Microsoft is in the wrong here, but no one’s right to free speech was violated.
