Microsoft employees have identified that company emails containing words such as "Palestine," "Gaza," and "Genocide" were being blocked following protests against the company’s affiliations with the Israeli government. The protest group "No Azure for Apartheid" has accused Microsoft of engaging in censorship and retaliatory actions.
The group highlighted these email restrictions through a social media post. While Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment from Fortune, the company confirmed to The Verge that it made some adjustments to reduce “politically focused emails” internally.
"No Azure for Apartheid" described this development as further evidence of Microsoft’s alleged intimidation, retaliation, repression, and censorship practices.
Tensions escalated within Microsoft after protests, including participation from at least one former employee, disrupted the company’s Build event in opposition to its contracts with the Israeli government. Subsequently, Microsoft terminated the employment of Joe Lopez, one of the protesters, following his disruption of CEO Satya Nadella’s keynote and a mass email sent to employees. In this email, Lopez cited the “silence” of company leadership regarding the protests as a motivating factor for his actions.
In a separate incident, Neta Haiby, Microsoft’s head of security for AI, mistakenly exposed private messages during a talk. While protests were occurring, Haiby accidentally shared internal messages about Walmart’s plans to utilize Microsoft’s AI, revealing a Walmart AI engineer’s remark, “Microsoft is WAY ahead of Google with AI security. We are excited to go down this path with you.”
In response to the protests, a Microsoft spokesperson previously stated to Fortune that the safety and well-being of employees, customers, and the community are a top priority and emphasized supporting the right to peaceful assembly, provided it is conducted respectfully.
Microsoft has encountered similar protests in the past. Recently, former employees disrupted its 50th-anniversary event, criticizing AI chief Mustafa Suleyman. The previous year, the company dismissed two employees who organized a vigil for Palestinians killed in Gaza, attributing the dismissals to policy breaches.
Microsoft has consistently denied claims that its technology is used by the Israeli military to harm civilians in Gaza. Earlier this month, an internal review revealed “no evidence” of Microsoft’s Azure or AI technologies being used for harm. Protesters have expressed skepticism over the review, questioning its comprehensiveness. The review itself acknowledged limitations, stating the company does not have complete visibility into how customers utilize its software on their servers or devices.
In his communication with employees, Lopez accused Microsoft leaders of lying about Azure’s use in Gaza, arguing that cloud-stored data could potentially justify extreme actions against Palestinians.
This information was originally reported on Fortune.com.
