Fact Check: A Rumor Alleges Microsoft Will 'Disable Computer

[Tennesseer]

The People's Voice also started the rumor Taylor Swift drank a child's blood which can be found in the 'Taylor Swift conspiracy theories engulf conservative social media thread.

Fact Check: A Rumor Alleges Microsoft Will 'Disable Computers of Users Who Share Non-Mainstream Content Online'

Claim:

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in early 2024 that the company plans to disable the computers of users who share "non-mainstream content" online.

Rating:

False

On Feb. 3, 2024, the website The People's Voice published an article with a picture of former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates and a headline that read, "Microsoft To Disable Computers of Users Who Share 'Non-Mainstream Content' Online."

The story claimed, "Microsoft has announced plans to disable the computers of people who share 'non-mainstream' content online, in an attempt to combat so-called 'misinformation' in the run-up to the 2024 election."

The article was shared by numerous users on Facebook, Truth Social and X, just to name a few of the websites and apps where the rumor was spread online.
However, this rumor was both false and misleading, despite a label next to the headline that said the story had been "fact-checked."

One user commented under The People's Voice article, "Your headline has absolutely no merit based on the information you provide as context. Are you trying to mislead?"

Further, Gates, who stepped down as Microsoft's CEO in 2000 and left the company's board in 2020, was not once mentioned in the story, despite being featured in the picture below the headline.

The article cited as its evidence an interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who sat down with NBC News anchor Lester Holt for a conversation about AI (artificial intelligence) in late January.

At no point during the interview did Nadella say that the company planned to disable the computers of users who might share "non-mainstream content" online.

During the first question of the interview, Nadella was asked about AI and the potential for "fakes, fraud [and] disinformation." In his answer, he said of disinformation, "The key is for us as tech platform companies is to do everything in building the guardrails from the get-go," and later added, "It's about a really broader consensus in our society on how do we both, whether it's regulation or whether it's norms that we put in place, that allow us to make sure that there's safety from the get-go."

Rest of article here: Fact Check: A Rumor Alleges Microsoft Will 'Disable Computers of Users Who Share Non-Mainstream Content Online'

[tallguy]

RIGHT-WING SOURCES TRYING TO MIS-LEAD??!!

OH, MY HEAVENS!!  SAY IT AIN'T SO!!!!!!!

 

[Opti]

Given we live in Trump's opposite world, there is a very real possibility that people he pays or people who support his candidacy are doing this to people like me. I don't think their analytics folks are content to destroy merely via fake news articles placed on the internet or targeted scam emails. I think they are actively trying to break into computers owned by by people who do not support Trump .

It unfortunately works too easily if your hardware is on the planned obsolesce curve of MS. If I had more time, I'd be backing out some recent pushes from them designed to overwhelm my hardware and get more Windows 11 adopters in the fold.