What you need to know
- Microsoft owns Skype, OneDrive, Hotmail, Outlook, and various other online services all tied together by a Microsoft account.
- A BBC investigation recently revealed that Microsoft has been blanket banning the Microsoft accounts of Palestinians living in the U.S. and other western nations for using Skype to call relatives in Gaza.
- Israel is conducting a military campaign against terror group Hamas in Gaza, with hundreds of thousands of innocents brutalized and displaced in the conflict.
- Skype has become an affordable lifeline of sorts for worried relatives calling into Gaza, but it seems that Microsoft is banning at least some users making calls for that purpose.
- In response, Microsoft offered only "Blocking in Skype can occur in response to suspected fraudulent activity."
