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Google Drive censors files of Pfizer whistleblower
... and Google's stated reasons were obviously false.
May 27, 2024
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Another day, another story of Big Tech suppressing information and censoring individuals.

What follows is a story which deals with topics that many will find extremely political.  But, in truth, the core of this story is one which should be a concern to everyone, regardless of political stances: Big Tech (in this case, Google) actively censoring whistleblower material regarding a different corporation.

Google Drive vs The Pfizer Whistleblower

On May 8th, 2024, a corporate whistleblower by the name of Melissa McAtee, uploaded a 40 slide PowerPoint file to her Google Drive.

That PowerPoint slide deck -- "Pfizer testimony.pptx" -- contained documentation and emails from her time working for Pfizer.  Over the days that followed, Mrs McAtte shared this file with others.

15 days later, on May 23rd, Google sent an email to Mrs McAtee, letting her know that Google had determined the file "contains content that may violate Google Drive's Dangerous and Illegal Activities policy" and that "Some features related to this file may have been restricted."

Screenshot of the email to Mellisa McAtee

 

What, exactly, is the "Google Drive Dangerous and Illegal Activity" policy?  Turns out... it consists of just one paragraph.  Here it is, in its entirety.

"Do not use this product to engage in illegal activities or to promote activities, goods, services, or information that cause serious and immediate harm to people or animals. While we permit general information for educational, documentary, scientific, or artistic purposes about this content, we draw the line when the content directly facilitates harm or encourages illegal activity. We will take appropriate action if we are notified of unlawful activities, which may include reporting you to the relevant authorities, removing access to some of our products, or disabling your Google Account."

Which begs the question... did this PowerPoint file "directly facilitate harm or encourage illegal activity"?

The short answer: No.  Not even remotely.

The Lunduke Journal reached out to Mrs McAtee to obtain a copy of this file, which was promptly provided.  And, after a careful review, it can be definitively said that this file neither facilitates harm, nor encourages illegal activity.

Title page of the censored PowerPoint file.

The contents of this PowerPoint slide deck consists predominantly of notated screenshots of corporate emails and policy documents.  Which, while some of the contents may be embarrassing to Pfizer (a mega corporation of over 80,000 employees, with roughly $100 Billion in revenue for 2020), those leaked emails or policy documents are not even remotely "directly facilitating harm".

Most of this censored PowerPoint file looks like this.  Screenshots of emails and documents.

Regardless of what you, me, or anyone else thinks of any politically charged topics surrounding Pfizer, vaccines, the medical industry, or corporate whistleblowers... this incident raises a few questions regarding both Google and censorship of digital files.

Why, exactly, did Google censor this file?

As of this moment, the details of why Google censored this file remains... murky.

Being as it can be easily demonstrated that this PowerPoint file does not violate Google Drives "Dangerous and Illegal Activity" in any obvious way (ie. it does not "directly facilitate harm or encourage illegal activity"), this suggests that there is some other reason for this censorship.

  • Did Pfizer request or demand the censorship?
  • Is there a business relationship between Google and Pfizer at play?
  • Was this censorship approved because of personal, political leanings of leadership within Google?
  • Or, perhaps, is this simply a matter of file scanning and AI systems auto-censoring files stored within Google Drive?

The truth is, while many will make some assumptions regarding Google's motives, we don't really know.

When The Lunduke Journal asked Mrs McAtee, she was uncertain of what initiated the censorship.  "It may have been reported," stated McAtee.  "Or they had AI scan it because it had the word Pfizer in it."

The Lunduke Journal reached out to Google for comment and clarification.  Likewise, The Lunduke Journal reached out to Pfizer, asking if their company had requested that Google censor this material.  As of the publishing of this article, no response has been received from either company.

What we do know: Their real reasons for censoring this file were not, at all, what they stated to the person they censored.

Is it safe to store files with Google?

Regardless of why Google decided to censor this file, one thing is made very clear:

If we, as individuals, are looking to store critical, or potentially controversial files... Google Drive (and, likely, other Google services) are not reliable systems to use.

Because Google censors files.  And they misrepresent their reasons for doing so.

It's also important to note that this is not an isolated incident.  Google has a long track record of censoring, shadow-banning, and otherwise removing content from all of their services.  Be it public facing videos on YouTube or personal files stored on Google Drive.

Heck, The Lunduke Journal was temporarily banned from YouTube -- earlier this year -- after the publishing of polling data which Google / YouTube did not like.  And that was not the first time YouTube censored The Lunduke Journal for expressing an opinion or publishing a set of data.

So.  Is it safe to store files with Google?  Can we count on them, as a company, to not arbitrarily censor content?  Obviously not.

Where can we reliably store sensitive files?

While Google is, obviously, not a good option to store or distribute files (unless you want them censored without warning or cause)... there are, luckily, a few options out there which are a bit more... reliable.

Both Rumble and Locals have taken firm non-censorship stances on published videos.  Likewise Locals and Substack have stood firm on not censoring articles, PDFs, and other types of files (even when their executive teams and staff disagree or dislike the content being published).

And, of course, there is always the option of self-hosting your own files -- which provides an extra layer of safety from censorship.  But that's a bigger topic, for a different time.

But, if you are going to use Google (or other Big Tech services for hosting your potentially sensitive files)... be sure to have local backups.  Because the odds of your files being deleted for "wrong think" are... non zero.

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Microsoft "Worker Intifada" says "Go Away, Jews!"
On the 3rd day of escalating events, the "Intifada" of Microsoft employees takes over a Redmond transit center, celebrates the murder of Jews, and chants (in Arabic), "Go Away, Jews!"

On Thursday, August 21st, the Microsoft “Worker Intifada” held their third event of the week — continuing their demands that Microsoft cut all ties with Israel, Israelis, and any company that does business in Israel.

This time, they ratcheted things up to officially include specific calls against all Jews.

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This third event of the week — following events on the 19th and 20th, which resulted in 18 arrests after the “Intifada” vandalized property, stole from a farmers market, and became aggressive — was scheduled at the transit station (and park & ride) next to Microsoft headquarters.

And scheduled to coincide with the evening rush hour.

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While some members of the “Intifada” had, at the previous events, shouted vulgarities and anti-Jewish statements (specifically anti-Jewish, not simply “anti-Israel”) at those walking by, this most recent event escalated the anti-Jewish messaging significantly.

With the entire crowd taking part in a chant — in Arabic — of “Jews, get out” or “Go away, Jews!”

 

The Microsoft “Intifada” event also made use of the “bloody red hand” symbolism — which specifically is celebrating the lynching of two Jews in 2000.

In that 2000 event, a Palestinian lynch mob gouged out eyes and disemboweled the Jews — with one Gazan holding up his hands, covered in the blood of the dead Jews, celebrating their murder.

Intifada Bloody hand pic
 

You can see the “bloody red hand” in this image, taken during the “Worker Intifada” event, next to the Microsoft logo — along with the statements “Microsoft powers genocide” and “Microsoft kills kids”.

 

The “Worker Intifada” has promised to escalate activities — including more violence and increasing speech “which cannot be ignored”.

 

Red paint (symbolizing blood) on Microsoft signs, fake “dead bodies”, screaming specifically anti-Jewish statements at people walking by, and getting aggressive with police.

And now the “Intifada” is adopting of imagery glorifying and encouraging the disemboweling of Jewish people — combined with loud, repeated, angry chants of “Jews get out!” — certainly seems like an escalation.

Importantly, this has quickly become not simply a political demonstration. These “Intifada” members are openly, proudly, and loudly advocating for the murder of their Jewish co-workers.

The Lunduke Journal reached out to the organizers of the Microsoft “Worker Intifada”, however they promptly stopped responding — and refused to answer any questions — once they noticed noticed the name of this publication.

The Lunduke Journal has also reached out to Microsoft for comment. As yet there has been no response.


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USA Now Owns 10% of Intel
The US Government is now the largest shareholder of Intel, the maker of CPUs with a secret, back-door operating system. What could possibly go wrong?

Yesterday, President Donald Trump announced that the United Stated federal government had acquired a 10% stake in Intel — making the USA the single largest shareholder.

Which raises a question: Considering the fact that Intel has implemented a secret operating system within their CPUs — a system which has total control and visibility of everything a computer does, and which computer users are not allowed access to — what are the implications of Intel now being owned, in large part, by a government?

How The Intel Deal Happened

On August 22nd, President Trump made a Truth Social post which read, “It is my Great Honor to report that the United States of America now fully owns and controls 10% of INTEL.”

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What’s especially fascinating is that, according to the President, “The United States paid nothing for these shares” worth approximately $11 Billion USD.

How, exactly did this all come to pass?

Well, the current CEO of Intel — a man named Lip-Bu Tan — is also the Chairman of an investment firm called Walden International. A position he continued to hold after becoming the new head of Intel.

Back on July 18th, the US Congress Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party wrote a letter expressing concern regarding Walden International’s investments in Chinese Communist Party tied corporations.

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But Intel CEO’s ties to China didn’t end there.

Lip-Bu Tan was also, previously, the CEO of Cadence Design Systems, which plead guilty to illegally selling chip design software and hardware to the Chinese Military.

Image
 

President Trump chimed in, on August 7th, stating that “The CEO of Intel is highly CONFLICTED and must resign immediately. There is no other solution to this problem.”

Image
 

Lip-Bu Tan sent out a letter to Intel employees, later that same day, addressing some of this — calling it “misinformation”, without providing any specifics or detailed rebuttals. He also referred to his leadership of “Walden” as a “past role”, even though his ties to Walden appear to remain.

4 days later, on August 11th, the Intel CEO met, in person, with President Trump. According to President Trump, during the meeting Trump suggested that Intel should “give” the US government 10% of Intel. And the Intel CEO replied that he would think about it.

On August 22nd, the deal was announced that it had been finalized.

Now there are, obviously, going to be many opinions about this. I have more than a few, myself. Let’s put aside some of the more political and financial concerns, for a moment, and focus in on a security & privacy issue.

The Intel Management Engine Issue

Almost every major Intel CPU, produced since 2008, ships with something called the “Intel Management Engine” (or “IME”, for short).

The IME is, to put it simply, a hidden computer inside your CPU. A hidden computer which has access to everything on your computer (absolutely everything) — but which you are not allowed any access to yourself.

A hidden computer… which even has a full web server.

Now, ask yourself, why would a secret computer — hidden inside your computer, spying on everything you do — need a web server? The answer is not a comforting one.

The IME is one of the most powerful, non-auditable, and widespread backdoors ever created. And it is in just about every Intel-powered computer on Earth. Even Google is concerned about the IME — going to drastic measures to disable it on their servers whenever possible.

And now the US federal government is the single largest shareholder of Intel.

The way I see it, the results of government ownership of Intel could impact the Intel Management Engine in one of two ways:

  • The Good: The government could provide oversight into potential, or already existing, abuses of the IME which may be impacting the security and privacy of US citizens, government agencies, and corporations. The government could even force Intel to remove the IME entirely. A massive win for computer security and privacy.

  • The Bad: The government could take advantage (or further advantage) of the IME for their own purposes. Possibly even expanding the IME’s already extensive surveillance capabilities.

Now, I don’t know about you, but my gut tells me the bad option is far more likely than the good one.

Even if that is not the intention of President Trump in making this deal… Someone, somewhere within the federal government is already planning ways which the IME can be used (or used further), in ways which we, as citizens, will not like.

But, and this is important, the US government is not the only organization with control over Intel.

The Other Big Players

While this 10% stake makes the USA the single largest shareholder of Intel, both Blackrock and Vanguard come in at a close second (both with close to 9% of the shares).

 

In fact, the top 4 shareholders of Intel now have a combined ownership of roughly 1/3rd of the entire company — that’s a lot of control.

Plus, most of those investment firms holding significant portions of several other computer companies. BlackRock, for example, also owns massive, influential stakes in Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Amazon, and Google.

 

The control which these firms can wield over the computer industry is absolutely staggering.

Now that the US federal government is an even larger shareholder — at least with Intel — it will be interesting to see what impact that has on both the existing investment firms… and the actions of the corporations themselves.

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Microsoft “Worker Intifada” Escalates, 18 Arrested, More Violence Planned
After two days of increasing levels of violence, with demands that Microsoft cut all ties to Israel, the anti-Jewish “Worker Intifada” is now planning to siege a transit center.

On August 19th, a group of Microsoft employees — working with some outside organizations and individuals — declared their intention to occupy a portion of Microsoft Main Campus, demanding that Microsoft cut all ties to Israel.

That August 19th event, by the self-declared “Worker Intifada”, lasted only 4 hours before those involved voluntarily left (after being told they may be subject to arrest). Following that event, the “Intifada” declared an intention to escalate activities.

Yesterday, August 20th, the “Worker Intifada” returned to Microsoft Main Campus East - which the “Intifada” has declared a “Liberated Zone”.

 

According to multiple reports, the organizers vandalized Microsoft property, stole furniture from both Microsoft and a the independent vendors at a Famers Market (which was scheduled to take place at that time), and screamed obscenities, anti-Jewish statements, and blood libel regarding Israel and Jews at those attending the Farmers Market on the Microsoft plaza.

The “Intifada” poured red paint — to symbolize blood — and laid out fake dead bodies around Microsoft signs. With many waving a Palestinian flag.

 

After refusing to cease vandalism and trespassing, 18 of the “Intifada” members became “aggressive”, and were arrested by Redmond Police Department.

According to the Redmond PD X account:

“18 arrested for various charges during a protest at Microsoft Campus Redmond police are at the scene of a demonstration at the Microsoft campus.

On Aug 20, around 12:15 p.m., Redmond officers were dispatched to a large gathering of protestors in the Microsoft courtyard.

Officers initially attempted to trespass the protestors, but they resisted and became aggressive.

A few protesters had poured paint over the Microsoft sign and on the ground. Others had blocked a pedestrian bridge and were using stolen tables and chairs from vendors to form a barrier.

Officers took 18 into custody for multiple charges, including trespassing, malicious mischief, resisting arrest, and obstruction. No injuries were reported.”

The response from the “Intifada” organizers confirmed those details.

 

“The “Intifada” organizers made the following statement on X, following yesterday’s arrests:

“In response to this peaceful opposition of war crimes, Microsoft and Redmond Police retaliated against protestors with the brutal mass arrest of 18 protestors, chemical weapons, and physical violence.

Current workers, former workers, and community members were hog-tied, violently dragged, and pepper sprayed in a repressive escalation. Microsoft and Redmond Police chose to dehumanize, brutalize, and criminalize people of conscience for opposing Microsoft's ACTUAL war crimes.

As we recognize the sacrifice made by those arrested today, we also recognize that this militarism and physical violence pale in comparison to the experiences Palestinians are forced to endure.

Every day for the past 22 months, the Israeli military has used Microsoft technology to starve and bomb Palestinians in Gaza, while actively displacing Palestinians in an ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing.

Let us be clear: no violence will shut down escalation efforts against Microsoft's complicity in war crimes. The Worker Intifada is an answer to Gaza's call for action, and so The Worker Intifada will live on. THE MORE THEY TRY TO SILENCE US, THE LOUDER WE WILL BE!”

The “Worker Intifada” has another event planned for today — Thursday, August 21st, at 4pm — to “honor Palestinian martyrs killed with weapons and tools powered by Microsoft”.

 

This event appears to be planned in order to disrupt local traffic and transportation — the “Intifada” plans to gather at the “Redmond Technology Station”, a transit center and Park-and-Ride location used by Microsoft employees.

The event is timed to coincide, precisely, with the start of the evening rush hour — in an area which is known to experience significant traffic congestion.

 

The “Worker Intifada” has previously declared their intention to escalate their activities, stating “we will not rest”, “we will continue to escalate”, and that they will engage in activities which “cannot be ignored”.

Considering their usage of Hamas (a terrorist organization with the stated objective of the murder of all Jews and Israelis) language and talking points, it seems a reasonable assumption that this “Worker Intifada” is suggesting that they intend to commit increasingly violent acts.

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