Microsoft—Invested $2.1 billion in Saudi Arabia datacenter despite human rights protests from 18 organizations
Microsoft announced a $2.1 billion investment in a cloud datacenter region in Saudi Arabia in February 2023. Human Rights Watch and 17 other human rights organizations called on Microsoft to suspend plans, citing Saudi Arabia's surveillance laws, targeting of dissidents, and use of spyware. Microsoft refused to make its human rights assessment public and proceeded with the project, completing construction in December 2024.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authoritarian Compliance | +toward | primary | -1.00 |
| User Privacy | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.664 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (1 signal)
Invested $2.1 billion in Saudi Arabia datacenter despite human rights protests from 18 organizations
Microsoft announced a $2.1 billion investment in a cloud datacenter region in Saudi Arabia in February 2023. Human Rights Watch and 17 other human rights organizations called on Microsoft to suspend plans, citing Saudi Arabia's surveillance laws, targeting of dissidents, and use of spyware. Microsoft refused to make its human rights assessment public and proceeded with the project, completing construction in December 2024.