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A BBC investigation reveals that Microsoft is permanently banning Palestinians in the U.S. and other countries who use Skype to call relatives in Gaza.

Reportedly, Microsoft has been banning and wiping the accounts of users who have leveraged Skype to contact relatives in Gaza. In some cases, email accounts over a decade old have been locked, destroying access to banking accounts, OneDrive storage, and beyond.

United States resident Salah Elsadi lost his account of over 15 years in the dragnet. "I've had this Hotmail for 15 years. They banned me for no reason, saying I have violated their terms — what terms? Tell me. I've filled out about 50 forms and called them many many times." Eiad Hametto from Saudi Arabia echoed the report, "We are civilians with no political background who just wanted to check on our families. They’ve suspended my email account that I’ve had for nearly 20 years. It was connected to all my work. They killed my life online."

Many of the users affected by the bans expressed that Microsoft may be falsely labelling them as Hamas

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[-] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 316 points 4 months ago

Remember: today it's "just" the Palestinians and you may not be affected or care. But tomorrow, it could be you.

[-] BassTurd@lemmy.world 63 points 4 months ago

Yep. If you ever shared a political opinion, that could put you on someone's naughty list. If that someone gets a position of power and decides they want to attack, well, you could be the next metaphorical Palestinian.

[-] Deebster@programming.dev 40 points 4 months ago

Voting on Lemmy isn't private (and is probably for sale on closed platforms) so just upvoting an opinion might be enough to get you on some lists.

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[-] smiletolerantly@awful.systems 14 points 4 months ago

I have always been pro-privacy, but in a kind of lukewarm, "I wish someone would do something about this" way.

What has finally pushed me to ditch services from large corporations over the past couple of years is not really a concern for privacy, its a drive for self-sufficiency.

As basically the last stepping stone, as of a couple of weeks ago, my email, calendar and contacts are self-hosted, and it's just... So freeing.

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[-] Bezier@suppo.fi 183 points 4 months ago

This is what I fear the most with these platforms. They have these shitty automated moderation systems that can just decide to delete everything you have there on a whim. Already common on places like youtube and facebook, but it just keeps getting worse. Every site is pushing users into signing in with their google/microsoft/whatever accounts.

Remember the guy who lost access to his smart home when amazon banned him for no reason?

[-] Mrkawfee@lemmy.world 51 points 4 months ago

It isn't even on a whim. They get pressured to act on "anti semitism" and define that to mean anything that offends Zionists.

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[-] 14th_cylon@lemm.ee 17 points 4 months ago

well it wasn't for no reason, it was for stupid reason, which is different, but i agree with your sentiment.

if you are depending on a platform where you are the goods being sold, not the customer, you shouldn't be surprised if you are taken of the shelf on a moment's notice.

everyone has a choice.

[-] Bezier@suppo.fi 17 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

well it wasn't for no reason, it was for stupid reason, which is different

Yeah, guess I ovesimplified a bit. For anyone not aware, it was one report of racism towards a delivery driver.

The accusation was completely false, and even if the guy actually were a racist pos, remotely disabling devices he paid for and owns is not a good road to go on.

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[-] dukethorion@lemmy.world 127 points 4 months ago

So what you're saying is, that there is now an easy way to delete your MS account?

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[-] Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com 93 points 4 months ago

This is the final nail in the coffin for me. My next PC is going to be a Linux machine.

[-] todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee 85 points 4 months ago

Your current PC can become a Linux machine by lunchtime. What are you waiting for?

[-] Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com 33 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

The last time I used a Linux PC was around 2012 with something called "Egyptian Hax" that my sister set up because she wanted me to play NetHack, so a guide would be a great start. I'm aware that WINE has gone through some vast improvements, but beyond that I don't really know where to start, what distro would be good for me, or anything else.

Edit: not getting mocked for admitting my ignorance would be a huge encouragement as well, tbh. It's hard not to be resentful when a community is hostile to new members. Calling someone a slur for not already being a part of the in group is a great way to keep people from joining. 👍

[-] smiletolerantly@awful.systems 31 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Start with Linux Mint. It should be a very pleasant and straightforward experience right out of the box, and is just in general very beginner friendly. I recommend to create a live USB (basically, download the ISO from the Mint website, then use something like Balena Etcher to put it on a USB stick). You can then boot off that stick, and try Mint out to your heart's content, without risking your Windows install or data at all.

Can I ask, what are the programs you wager you'll have to emulate through wine?

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[-] I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world 24 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Installed? Sure, you can do that by lunchtime.

Getting it set up? Making sure all your drivers are working right? Troubleshooting issues? Finding alternatives to programs you need that don't work on Linux? Especially for someone who has never used Linux before? That will take much longer.

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[-] z00s@lemmy.world 30 points 4 months ago

Why wait? Install it now. I would recommend Mint as a beginner distro.

[-] djsaskdja@reddthat.com 20 points 4 months ago

Why do people keep recommending Mint as a starter distro? Maybe if your computer is a toaster, but it lacks tons of modern features. Seems like a one way track to people thinking Linux sucks. Fedora KDE edition is a way better beginner distro for a halfway decent PC.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 21 points 4 months ago

I use Mint and I like it. It does everything I need it to do.

What keeps people away from Linux, or at least it helped keep me away, were people arguing with each other about distros like a mini-OS war within the OS wars and it makes the whole thing sound like it's a lot more trouble than it's worth.

Most people's computers are "toasters" because most people's computers are used for things like web browsing, word processing and maybe a few games. They don't need the modern features, they need something that works better than a Chromebook and isn't super bloated.

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[-] maxenmajs@lemmy.world 62 points 4 months ago

I don't understand why it's so mainstream to equate Palestine with Hamas. It's as if there is an actual conspiracy going on to to support this genocide. Is it because it's so easy to say you're antiemetic if you oppose "the Jews"?

[-] Linkerbaan@lemmy.world 44 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

It's completely normalized racism. America has been institutionalizing Islamophobia for years to justify their invasions of the Middle East where we kill millions of ~~innocent civilians~~ "terorrists"

Before the 2000's a lot of that manufactured hate was directed towards Asians because we needed to justify war crimes in Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Laos etc.

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[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 25 points 4 months ago

I don’t understand why it’s so mainstream to equate Palestine with Hamas

Decades of Islamophobic propaganda combined with a strong American economic interest in Israel might have played a role.

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 20 points 4 months ago

Basically we spent 20 years fighting "terrorists". So now it's really easy to paint one side or the other as the "terrorists". And thanks to Islamophobia pushed by mainstream TV shows and Movies, if you get painted as a "terrorist" then everyone in your country is also a "terrorist".

The word is in quotes because very few of the groups fought by regular forces (regular infantry as opposed to special operations) were actually international militant NGOs like Al Qaeda. Mostly they were local militias mad at the coalition forces for their own reasons, like "Why did you kill my kid in an airstrike!?!", or "I like the Taliban because they pay me really good for the poppy you torched. Also, you torched my livelihood in a country that has no safeguards against starving to death." And even the Taliban, ridiculously evil bastards that they are, were never an AQ like group. They were concerned solely with taking back Afghanistan.

All of this nuance was lost on anyone who didn't read the actual reports coming out of these countries though and many of those reports were classified. So all most people got was their favorite action and/or police drama shoveling the idea that all muslims are terrorists. With a side of Fox News villifying any brown people they could find.

So now, Israel walks in, sees all this, screams "terrorist!" and shoots the nearest Gazan kid. Predictable results were predicted many times by academic scholars.

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[-] anticurrent@sh.itjust.works 61 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

They don't want the stories of the Israeli atrocities commited in Gaza to be leaked to the world.

[-] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 61 points 4 months ago

Damn, thats some google level behavior.

What the fuck, MIcrosoft.

[-] archchan@lemmy.ml 49 points 4 months ago

No, it's standard corp level behavior that's beholden to government censorship and propaganda when it doesn't fit the narrative. You can substitute any big tech company in the US for Google. They all do this. It's why the government is not a fan of TikTok, they don't have that same level of control over the flow of information.

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[-] SeattleRain@lemmy.world 58 points 4 months ago
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[-] dan@upvote.au 58 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Friendly reminder to not use freemail accounts (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, etc) for anything important. It's very hard to get any sort of support as your account is seen as low-priority. Also, always use your own domain so that it's easy to move to a different provider in the future, without having to change your email address.

FastMail and MXRoute are good options. MXRoute has good Black Friday sales and all their plans include unlimited email address and domains (you're just limited by total disk space).

Microsoft's paid plan is decent too. $70/year for a personal account or $100/year for a family account (up to 6 people) and it includes the Office suite, 1TB cloud storage, and email.

[-] SulaymanF@lemmy.world 52 points 4 months ago

Why would I give Microsoft money if they’re behaving like this?

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[-] Wilzax@lemmy.world 15 points 4 months ago

Or if you have a little more money, there's the Proton pass which comes with VPN, Email, Drive, Calendar, and Password Manager. All protected under swiss privacy laws. They have a free tier of their drive with 5GB storage so you can collaborate on other people's documents without needing to pay yourself, and they have a $120/yr US Tier for 500GB for 1 person, and a $288/year US Tier for 3TB for up to 6 people. If you don't need that much storage and don't care about anything other than the email, they have a 15GB plan with just email and calendar for only $48/yr US.

This is not an ad, I am a real person with no connection to Proton except a deep respect for their business, and an even deeper hatred for Microsoft

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[-] paf0@lemmy.world 54 points 4 months ago

Probably the first time they have paid attention to Skype.

[-] autonomoususer@lemmy.world 49 points 4 months ago

Meanwhile we get banned here for saying war crimes bad.

[-] prole@sh.itjust.works 28 points 4 months ago

Here? On Lemmy? Where did you get banned for saying that?

[-] irreticent@lemmy.world 18 points 4 months ago

Imaginationland.

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[-] Woht24@lemmy.world 20 points 4 months ago

How dare you speak ill of Daddy War Crimes

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[-] StaySquared@lemmy.world 33 points 4 months ago

Guess that officially adds Microsoft to the BDS list? Unless it's already on the list.

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[-] autonomoususer@lemmy.world 31 points 4 months ago
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[-] jdeath@lemm.ee 29 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

don’t ever forget that microsoft is evil

[-] Spacehooks@reddthat.com 28 points 4 months ago

It's all to stop terrorism!

So much bs in the name of justice is just laziness

[-] NutWrench@lemmy.world 25 points 4 months ago

As if I needed another reason to hate Microsoft.

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[-] masquenox@lemmy.world 22 points 4 months ago

Just capitalism playing along with genocide - no different than they did seven decades ago.

[-] Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com 21 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Fuck Microsoft and all Big Tech corporations

[-] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 20 points 4 months ago

Uh, why would they do this?

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[-] Gestrid@lemmy.ca 20 points 4 months ago

Every now and then, I'm reminded that Skype is somehow still alive.

[-] autotldr@lemmings.world 14 points 4 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Today, BBC News put out an investigation having spoke to 20 Palestinians living abroad who claim Microsoft has permanently banned them from their systems for calling relatives in Gaza.

Skype might have fallen out of favor for general messaging purposes over platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram, but it remains an affordable service for calling cell phones directly via the web.

Many of the users affected by the bans expressed that Microsoft may be falsely labelling them as Hamas, the terror group behind the notorious October 7 massacre that killed hundreds of concert goers near Re'im in Israel.

Microsoft declined to respond to the accusation, but claimed that it doesn't block calls or ban users based on geographical location.

"Blocking in Skype can occur in response to suspected fraudulent activity," a Microsoft spokesperson told the BBC — potentially implying there's more to the story.

But given how much of our online life is basically handed over to big corporations like Microsoft, who are under no obligation to guarantee access to these services, it is alarming how they can just ban you with no real explanation or transparency.


The original article contains 647 words, the summary contains 186 words. Saved 71%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

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this post was submitted on 12 Jul 2024
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