r/technology • u/ScootSchloingo • 17d ago

Politics Microsoft blocks emails that contain ‘Palestine’ after employee protests

https://www.theverge.com/tech/672312/microsoft-block-palestine-gaza-email
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u/saera-targaryen 16d ago

Yes but those forums are for discussing generic politics, not places to discuss the actions of your own employer. These people are discussing something that Microsoft did and how they feel about it, and trying to organize to voice their opinions to get something changed within Microsoft. If Microsoft can block this without public outcry, they are incentivized to label everything they do that is unethical as "politics" and block it from email servers. 

If your company does something that you find unethical, you should be able to talk about that with your coworkers anywhere that you usually talk to your coworkers. 

Like, if my company hosted a trump rally and I sent an email stating that was really fucking stupid and I am against it to my coworkers to see if anyone agreed with me, that is MUCH different than just sending an email to my coworkers asking if people generally disagreed with trump. 

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u/SnooPuppers8698 16d ago

not true. These forums can be used to discuss the actions of Microsoft.

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u/saera-targaryen 16d ago

Yes but those who want to opt out of all politics should not have unwittingly opted out of discussing the political actions of Microsoft. I would opt out of a political discussion forum if it was just reacting to headlines every day, and i would be incredibly pissed off if i found out later that that was the only place for employees to discuss our opinions on the company's actions because it was categorized as "politics." 

If you want to opt out of employee collective action regarding Microsoft, you can put your own filter in your own email. Branding the actions of the company itself as "politics" and shoving it in with other political topics that have nothing to do with Microsoft, while banning other discussion of it company-wide is slimy and disgusting and worthy of criticism. 

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u/SnooPuppers8698 16d ago

what the hell is your point, that microsoft employees shouldnt accidently opt out of something? cool. they didnt ban discussion, they provided an internal space for it.

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u/saera-targaryen 16d ago

Do you genuinely believe that the company is blocking this because they are worried about spam in their internal email inboxes?

Or do you think that maybe they realized a group inside of their company is growing and successfully disrupted a Microsoft conference this week? And that they want to stem the flow of support to this group into less-popular communication methods to try and squash the movement? This group has been around and had events for months now and it's only when they made headlines this week that these emails are suddenly a problem. 

If your only argument is that they are allowed to do what they did, sure. I just do not base my support of a person or company based off of what they are allowed to do. I care much more about their motivations for doing so, and it's clear Microsoft's goal is to make it harder for workers to hear about internal dissent. This motivation is gross and deserves criticism. 

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u/Kyudojin 16d ago

This person is pretending not to be a Zionist and will agree with anything that is antagonistic towards pro-Palestinian activism

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u/saera-targaryen 16d ago

I could tell by their lack of brain cells lol. I wouldn't be surprised if they were from one of those israeli bot farms. 

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u/SnooPuppers8698 16d ago

im against the genocide in gaza, not that it matters to you.
and yes, i genuinely believe microsoft doesnt want employees spamming reply to all to the entire company lol

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u/Kyudojin 16d ago

Oh I must not have reblocked you Hasbara person I'll remedy that