The war between Isreal and Hamas has been going since October 2023 in Gaza. Today, a number of Palestinians who live in Gaza claim Microsoft has cut off access to their Skype and email accounts, making them unable to contact relatives and friends in Gaza.
The BBC reports that one Palestinian native, Salah Elsadi, was kicked off the Hotmail account that he has used for 15 years by Microsoft with no explanation earlier in 2024. The report added quotes from Elsadi, who currently lives in the US:
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, who lives in Saudi Arabia, claimed Microsoft shut down the email account that he has used for 20 years, adding "They killed my life online." Hametto also claims he was cut off from accessing Microsoft's Skype service which he used to communicate with family members.
There is speculation that Microsoft cut off access to these accounts because the company suspected the users had ties to the Hamas organization. Hametto told the BBC he had no such connections to Hamas, adding, "We are civilians with no political background who just wanted to check on our families."
The BBC contacted Microsoft for comment. A spokesperson would not state whether or not the company closed these accounts due to suspected ties to Hamas. The spokesperson did say these kinds of bans are not due to where the people live or what location they are calling.
The spokesperson added, "Blocking in Skype can occur in response to suspected fraudulent activity." There was no further information about any specific fraud that Microsoft claims might have been detected. The bottom line is that Microsoft has not been transparent about these email and Skype bans, and it doesn't look like we will get any more information about these bans anytime soon.
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