Microsoft Investigating Employees After Gaza Protest Locks Down Building
Microsoft is weighing disciplinary measures for employees who occupied President Brad Smith’s office in protest of Microsoft’s relationship with Israeli govt
Microsoft is weighing disciplinary measures for employees who occupied President Brad Smith’s office on Tuesday in protest of the company’s relationship with the Israeli government during its war in Gaza.
Microsoft’s Brad Smith held a livestreamed press briefing on Tuesday.
The employees, members of a group that calls itself No Azure for Apartheid, broadcast live video of themselves entering Building 34 on Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash., campus and hanging banners inside Smith’s office. A spokesperson for the group confirmed that several Microsoft employees participated in the takeover of Smith’s office and were arrested.
Current and former employees, together with outside protesters, have in recent months engaged in a series of actions that have sought to draw attention to the tech giant’s selling of software to the Israeli military, with protesters claiming the technology has been used to target civilians in Gaza. Microsoft has said it is investigating the matter.
Smith said in a livestreamed press briefing that the company is examining the actions of the employees, which he called “not standard employee conduct.” Microsoft temporarily locked down the building in response to the incident.
Smith, who is also Microsoft’s vice chair, said the company primarily provides the Israeli military with cybersecurity help. He also said that a company security official in April contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation to ask about “disruptions” that could be planned in the Seattle area, and added that Microsoft would examine its building security protocols.
“We all care deeply about what has been going on in the Middle East,” he said.
People demonstrating against Israel’s war in Gaza gathered last week outside Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, Wash.
Microsoft and other large tech companies for years granted employees wide latitude to engage in political speech at work, including protesting the company’s own actions. But the firms began to tighten their policies around workplace speech following widespread protests in response to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis, Minn., police in May 2020.
In May, Microsoft fired a software engineer named Joe Lopez after he interrupted a speech by Chief Executive Satya Nadella at the company’s annual Build developer conference.
“Satya, how about you show how Microsoft is killing Palestinians,” Lopez yelled inside a full Seattle conference hall as Nadella was starting his keynote speech.
Smith said employees are welcome to bring issues to management via emails or other communication channels.
About 20 people were arrested last week at the company’s headquarters campus in Redmond after they occupied a plaza there.
The group has alleged that Microsoft’s Azure cloud service is being used for surveillance and targeting of Palestinians. Microsoft said it is reviewing its business with Israel and that its terms of service prohibit such use. It earlier looked into claims its software was being used to harm people but said it found no evidence.
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