Microsoft bans its employees from writing about Palestine

Microsoft has started blocking emails containing the words "Palestine", "Gaza," or "Genocide." According to the protest group No Azure for Apartheid (NOAA), "dozens of employees" have been unable to send such emails both internally and externally, The Verge reports.

NOAA organizers said that words like "Israel" or the alternate spelling "P4lestine" are not being filtered. The group believes this is an attempt by the company to suppress free speech and discriminate against Palestinian workers and their allies.

"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," a Microsoft representative confirmed the blocking message.

The restrictions were imposed amid employee protests against Microsoft's contracts with the Israeli government. During the Build 2025 conference, one employee, Joe Lopez, interrupted Satya Nadella's speech by shouting "How about showing that Azure supports Israeli war crimes?" - for which he was fired after a mass internal email was sent. Protesters interrupted other speeches in the following days.

Earlier this week, Microsoft confirmed contracts with Israel, but said internal and external investigations had found "no evidence" that its tools were used to "targetedly harm people" in Gaza.