Microsoft threatened to unplug Gab over anti-Semitic posts

After Milo Yiannopoulos got banned from Twitter, he and his followers moved to Gab, a social network priding itself on free speech that has become popular with conservatives and the alt-right. But it appears the platform's hosting provider Microsoft Azure isn't okay with the most extreme views appearing on Gab. Today, the tech giant gave the site two days to pull two posts with anti-Semitic content or it would stop serving it, which could have taken Gab down for weeks or months. They were soon deleted by the individual who made the posts: Far-right Senate candidate Patrick Little.

In the statement provided to Gab (in the above tweet), Microsoft noted that the Azure Safeguards team "received a complaint of malicious activity originating from your Azure deployment(s)." Curiously, Microsoft headlined its complaint "Phishing URLs," which Gab inquired about in its response, given that it was the posts' offensive content that drew attention. Little, who was booted from the California GOP convention for his public anti-Semitic and white supremacist views, reportedly included threats to physically harm Jewish people and destroy a Holocaust memorial in his now-deleted Gab messages.

"Microsoft received a complaint about specific posts on Gab.ai that advocate 'ritual death by torture' and the 'complete eradication' of all Jews. After an initial review, we have concluded that this content incites violence, is not protected by the First Amendment, and violates Microsoft Azure's acceptable use policy," Microsoft said in a statement provided to The Hill.

Via: CNET

Source: Gab.ai (Twitter)



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