Mohamed Shalaby and Joe Tidy report on the case on the BBC.
Someone deleted their life on the internet
As journalists write, at least twenty people (and probably many more) of Palestinian nationality were subjected to repression by Microsoft after they contacted people in the Gaza Strip via Skype. Their accounts were deleted by the operator, and some had been with their owners for, say, 15 years. These people lost their contact archives – emails, contact details and other content. They tell editors that they feel as if someone had deleted their life on the Internet.
The company, apart from a laconic statement that users have violated the rules and that the decision is irrevocable, does not want to provide any explanation. People affected by this repression, including BBC interviewee Salah Elsadi, argue that they have no links to the terrorist organization Hamas, and that they contacted the Gaza Strip because people close to them are there.
“We are civilians without political ambitions”
The aforementioned Salah Elsadi lives and works in the United States, and he called Gaza because his wife, children, and parents are there. He used Skype because international phone calls are beyond his financial capabilities, and the internet in Gaza is very unstable. Microsoft has provided a service that allows you to cheaply call someone’s mobile phone via Skype.
Elsadi is devastated because he has lost not only the ability to connect with his family, but also access to his bank account, which was connected to his Microsoft account. He says that he has already filled out about 50 contact forms trying to regain his online identity, but all to no avail. “We are civilians without any political ambitions, we only want to know what is happening to our families,” says the Palestinian on behalf of himself and others who have been subjected to repression. Others declare that they have lost trust in Microsoft forever.
