Microsoft employees have raised concerns that the company’s Outlook emails are being blocked when they contain references to Palestine, Gaza, genocide, apartheid, or IOF off Azure. The issue was first reported on internal message boards and confirmed by screenshots, recordings, and documents viewed by CNBC.
Employees began noticing the change on Wednesday just before noon PST and found that emails with these terms did not appear in their outboxes, suggesting they were not received. Employees tested this by sending emails without these terms and found that they appeared normally.
One employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, reported receiving only a few emails per day due to the blockage, despite sending multiple emails throughout the day. Another employee attempted to send an HR complaint with one of the blocked terms and did not receive the usual auto-response confirmation until 24 hours later.
The issue has sparked protests at Microsoft events, including the recent Build developer conference in Seattle. Protesters have also sent emails to executives outlining their concerns about Microsoft’s use of AI products by the Israeli military.
Microsoft has responded to employee concerns, stating that emails are not being blocked or censored unless they are being sent to large numbers of random distribution groups. However, some employees claim that even work-related emails with these terms are being blocked, despite attempting to send them to small groups of colleagues.
The company has also taken steps to reduce the number of emails that do not have opted-in recipients, but it appears that many employees still experience issues with receiving emails containing these terms. The issue remains a subject of concern for Microsoft employees and highlights the ongoing debate about the use of AI products by companies in conflicts.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/22/microsoft-emails-gaza-palestine.html