this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2024
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Palestinians calling home to Gaza on Skype have had their digital lives destroyed, after Microsoft closed their email accounts without warning.

BBC News has spoken to 20 Palestinians living abroad who say Microsoft, which owns the voice and video chat app, kicked them out of their accounts. The total number affected is thought to be much higher.

In some cases, these email accounts are more than 15 years old and the users have no way to retrieve emails, contacts or memories.

Microsoft says they violated its terms of service - but will not say how - and the decision is final.

The Gazans say they have no links to Hamas - designated as a terrorist organisation by some Western countries, including the US, where Microsoft is headquartered - and accuse the technology giant, the most valuable company in the world, of persecuting them unfairly.

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[–] PumpkinEscobar@lemmy.world 111 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

When they’re not recording your desktop in an unencrypted database for AI, boot-looping your computer with bad patches or showing ads in your start menu, they’re disabling your account for calling family to see if they’re still alive. Damn.

[–] SGGeorwell@lemmy.world 34 points 1 month ago

Evil is on parade in our time.

[–] Soup@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago

Microsoft: The only thing we’re good at is amazing you with how bad we can truly be.

[–] AceFuzzLord@lemm.ee 41 points 1 month ago

Okay, regardless of what you think about the war going on in Israel, you at least gotta admit that this is fucked up. As if I needed another reason to never trust macrohard.

[–] Beaver@lemmy.ca 39 points 1 month ago

I’m glad I switched to proton.

[–] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 28 points 1 month ago

Microsoft says they violated its terms of service - but will not say how - and the decision is final.

Classic Microsoft move. Do you remember what happened to kids and people being forced to register a Microsoft account to not lose their paid license to Minecraft, but who didn't want to hand out their phone numbers? Yeah. They have somehow "violated the terms of service", even if they did nothing with their account after registration, other than the license being transferred!

[–] IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world 25 points 1 month ago

"It's been a week since our last attempt to fuck over our users, we must continue to innovate. Any ideas?"

[–] doubtingtammy@lemmy.ml 22 points 1 month ago

Apartheid regime

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 20 points 1 month ago
[–] seedd@lemmy.world 18 points 1 month ago

Fuck microsoft. I stopped using their products a long time ago, not only do they steal my data, they make my pay for stuff on top. And despite all that, their products are still garbage quality.

[–] dvdnet62@feddit.nl 15 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Skype is suck nowadays. use Signal

[–] JohnnyCanuck@lemmy.ca 14 points 1 month ago

Can Signal call landlines or mobiles over the phone network? The big reason these folks are using Skype is to call phones on the phone network.

[–] cm0002@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago

Nowadays? It's been sucking since 2011 LMAO

[–] unmagical@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 month ago
[–] Squizzy@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago

There needs to be an international regulatory process with separate national regulatory agencies to address tech companies over reach. Sony will end any account that does a back charge even if it is a scam. Microsoft do this. You literally cannot get google support to help if you are a small business.

These services, to at least some degree impact lives and livelihoods to a huge extent.

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 7 points 1 month ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Palestinians calling home to Gaza on Skype have had their digital lives destroyed, after Microsoft closed their email accounts without warning.

BBC News has spoken to 20 Palestinians living abroad who say Microsoft, which owns the voice and video chat app, kicked them out of their accounts.

The Gazans say they have no links to Hamas - designated as a terrorist organisation by some Western countries, including the US, where Microsoft is headquartered - and accuse the technology giant, the most valuable company in the world, of persecuting them unfairly.

Salah Elsadi is living in the US and, like many Palestinians abroad, was using Skype to call his wife, children and parents on their mobile phones in Gaza.The internet is frequently disrupted or switched off because of the Israeli military campaign - and standard international calls are very expensive.

With a paid Skype subscription, it is possible to call mobiles in Gaza cheaply - and while the internet is down - so it has become a lifeline to many Palestinians.

But many of those BBC News has spoken to say they have tried many times and are receiving the same blanket response.One, Khalid Obaied, has lost faith with Microsoft.


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