In an unprecedented step, Microsoft announced the suspension of the provision of a range of cloud computing services and artificial intelligence techniques to the Israeli army, following reports confirming the use of these techniques in massive surveillance operations for Palestinians; this decision came to join a series of pressures that the company was subjected from within and outside.
According to Brad Smith, President, MicrosoftAn internal staff memorandum explaining the reasons for this decision was sent, as it was concluded that the Israeli Government was disguised and unremitting to use large data across the Azor Azure platform, registering up to 1 million calls per hour. Smith noted that an internal audit revealed the validity of some of the reports, prompting the company to alert the Israeli Ministry of Defence of its decision to disable certain contributions, including cloud and smart storage services.
It is important to note that this step does not affect other contracts signed between Microsoft and the Government of Israel, nor does it mean the interruption of cybersecurity cooperation, including partnerships undertaken under the so-called Abraham Conventions.
At the same time, the Gardian newspaper has reinforced reports that the Israeli army has already begun to transfer huge amounts of data up to 8 terabytes, from the Azor platform to the services of Amazon Webb al-Shoub, shortly after the publication of this information.
I'm not visiting apartheid.
In a related context, the Microsoft decision was followed by numerous pressures, where current and former employees of the company were active in expressing their objections, which led to the dismissal of five employees, and the activities of the La Azor Group for Apartheid were mainly focused on the activation of the protests, involving the frequent incursion of President Smith ' s offices and the interruption of the activities of the company.
In response to this resolution, activist Hasam Nasr described the move as an unprecedented victory, stressing that this was the first time that an American technology company had stopped selling some of its services to the Israeli army since the beginning of the conflict in Gaza; however, he noted that the scope of the resolution remained limited, limited to a certain unit of the army, and that most of the contracts of Microsoft with the Israeli military establishment still existed.
Continuing pressure.
In conclusion, he insisted that such a development would not discourage them from continuing to press for their demands, so that the Palestinian people would have their freedom.
This development refers to profound shifts in relations between large companies and local communities, and shows the increasing impact of community pressure on large companies in making decisions affecting entire communities.
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