Rights groups, activists urge Microsoft to cut all military ties with Israel after partial service suspension
LONDON: Human rights groups and activists welcomed Microsoft’s suspension of Israeli military access to some technologies linked to mass surveillance of Palestinians, urging the company to go further and end all contracts with Israel.
The decision, announced by Microsoft President Brad Smith on Thursday, followed an investigation by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call, which revealed that Unit 8200, Israel’s spy agency, used Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform to store and process vast amounts of Palestinian phone calls in Gaza and the West Bank as part of a mass surveillance program.
Microsoft said it acted after reviewing the reports and had blocked the unit’s access to some cloud storage and AI services.
Agnes Callamard, secretary-general of Amnesty International, urged the tech giant to investigate all its other dealings with the Israeli military to ensure they do not contribute to Israel’s “human rights violations against Palestinians.”
