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OT: Mentally ill progressives call for boycott of Microsoft and Xbox

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<https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/bds-calls-for-boycott-of-microsoft-and-xbox-gaming-products-over-alleged-israeli-military-connections>

The international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement are calling 
on people to cancel Game Pass subscriptions, avoid Microsoft-owned video 
game properties such as Minecraft and Call Of Duty, and boycott all 
Microsoft Gaming and Xbox-branded products in protest at the company’s 
reported business connections with the Israeli military.

The call follows allegations this January about the Israeli military’s 
usage of Microsoft’s Azure cloud technology and artificial intelligence 
products in the course of its bombardment and invasion of Gaza.

According to a joint investigation between the Guardian, 
Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language outlet 
Local Call, with additional reporting from Drop Site News, Microsoft 
have “deepened” their relationship with Israel’s defence establishment 
since 7th October 2023, when several Palestinian militant groups struck 
across the border and massacred over a thousand people. Israel responded 
to the attack by mounting a ground offensive and airstrikes that have 
destroyed much of Gaza and killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.

In their January 2025 write-up, the Guardian claim that Microsoft have 
supplied the Israeli Defense Forces with storage and computing services 
and struck “at least $10m in deals to provide thousands of hours of 
technical support”. The piece continues that “while the IDF has used 
some Microsoft services for administrative purposes, such as email and 
file management systems, documents and interviews suggest Azure has been 
used to support combat and intelligence activities.”

The joint investigation alleges the use of Microsoft technology by 
Israeli security forces to manage the population registry and movement 
of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. It further claims that 
Microsoft have supplied a “suite of communications and messaging 
systems” for managing databanks of potential airstrike targets. 
Microsoft have also reportedly given the Israeli military “large-scale 
access” to OpenAI’s GPT-4 “in recent years”.

Neither the Israeli military nor Microsoft commented on the Guardian 
report at the time of its publication.

According to Drop Site, two former Microsoft employees, Abdo Mohamed and 
Hossam Nasr, have been instrumental in driving this week’s BDS call for 
a boycott of Microsoft’s gaming offerings. As reported by the Guardian, 
Microsoft fired the pair in October 2024 after they organised a vigil 
for Palestinians killed in Gaza outside the company’s headquarters in 
Redmond, Washington.

This isn't the first time BDS have protested Microsoft's alleged 
connections to Israeli military or security organisations. In 2020, they 
and other civil liberty groups spoke out against Microsoft's stake in 
AnyVision, an Israeli start-up whose face recognition technology has 
been used at checkpoints in border crossings between Israel and the West 
Bank. Microsoft later sold their stake and announced that they would 
exit the business of investing in facial recognition startups altogether.

BDS are now making the games publisher a “priority target” in response 
to this January's allegations. You can read more about the boycott over 
on the BDS website. I've asked Microsoft for comment.

-- 
God be with you,

CrudeSausage
John 14:6

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OT: Mentally ill progressives call for boycott of Microsoft and Xbox CrudeSausage <crude@sausa.ge> - 2025-04-07 21:43 -0400
  Re: OT: Mentally ill progressives call for boycott of Microsoft and Xbox % <pursent100@gmail.com> - 2025-04-07 19:09 -0700
  Re: Mentally ill Microsoft fans suffer Linux envy, again Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-04-08 02:47 +0000
    Re: Mentally ill Microsoft fans suffer Linux envy, again CrudeSausage <crude@sausa.ge> - 2025-04-08 08:38 -0400
      Re: Mentally ill Microsoft fans suffer Linux envy, again Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-04-08 21:10 +0000

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