Microsoft myth traced back to ‘fake news’ website

A prominent misinformation website claims Microsoft has announced plans to disable the computers of people who spread misinformation online.

This is false. The website’s article provides no evidence the tech giant has said anything of the sort. Microsoft also told AAP FactCheck the claim is false.

The claim was made in a February 3 article published on a disinformation site called The People’s Voice.

The website is operated by Sean Adl-Tabatabai, a former MTV producer turned serial misinformation spreader who regularly churns out deceptive clickbait stories.

The article was headlined: “Microsoft To Disable Computers of Users Who Share ‘Non-Mainstream Content’ Online”.

“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 first sentence reads.

However, the rest of the article refers to an NBC News interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in January 2024. It makes no further mention of computers being shut down.

Neither the article nor the links within it include any evidence to back up the claim Microsoft had made an announcement about disabling computers.

Despite lacking any evidence for its central claim, the article has been widely shared on Facebook, X, Reddit and other social media platforms.

The NBC News interview with Mr Nadella is also available on YouTube here.

In the interview, the Microsoft boss talks about the risks and opportunities of Artificial Intelligence (AI), but does not mention anything resembling the claim.

When asked about putting a stop to online misinformation relating to the 2024 US presidential election, Mr Nadella said his company was investing in technological verification tools.

“We are doing all the work across the tech industry around watermarking, detecting deep fakes and content IDs. There is going to be enough and more technology, quite frankly, in order to be able to identify the issues around disinformation and misinformation,” he said (video mark 1min 08sec).

“Then the question again comes back to, how do we build consensus between parties, candidates and the norms around what is acceptable, not acceptable?”

At no point does Mr Nadella say anything about disabling computers.

AAP FactCheck found no credible evidence to indicate Mr Nadella or anyone at Microsoft had announced plans to disable the computers of people who share misinformation.

AAP FactCheck could not find any information on Microsoft’s website about the supposed announcement.

A Microsoft spokeswoman told AAP FactCheck the claim was false.

“No, there are no plans to disable any computers for users as described in these claims,” she said.

Other fact-checking organisations have also debunked the same claim – here, here and here.

Mr Adl-Tabatabai previously ran a disinformation website called YourNewsWire, described in a 2019 Mashable article (archived here) as “one of the most well-known purveyors of fake news online”.

YourNewsWire was rebranded as NewsPunch, which then turned into The People’s Voice.

AAP FactCheck has previously debunked Mr Adl-Tabatabai’s claims the World Economic Forum was trying to cancel Christmas and one billion had people died since the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

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