Employees Call On Microsoft To Protect GitHub From China Censors

The GitHub repository at '996.ICU' in China has been calling out tech companies in the country that pressure their employees to work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days per week. 'Since it went up last month, the page has been starred over 229,000 times, making it one of the most popular GitHub repositories on the site,' reports PC Magazine. 'But now a group of Microsoft employees are worried the Chinese government will force their employer to take the page down. So in response, they've been circulating an internal letter, urging Microsoft to stand up to any potential pressure to censor the GitHub page.' From the report: 'We encourage Microsoft and GitHub, companies which firmly believe in a healthy work-life balance, to keep the 996.ICU GitHub repository uncensored and available to everyone,' reads the letter, which was shared with PCMag and started circulating internally on Sunday.

The GitHub repository now hosts a list of over 140 Chinese companies that allegedly demand their employees work 60 hours a week. Many foreign media outlets have also reported on the protest page. But reportedly, some attempts have been made to censor mention of the 996.ICU repository within China. Domestic browsers from Tencent, Qihoo 360, and Xiaomi recently prevented users from visiting the GitHub page, according to Abacus. It's why a group of Microsoft employees based largely in the U.S. decided to circulate a protest letter calling on Redmond to protect the GitHub page from censorship. Microsoft hasn't commented, but the company's two other web properties, Bing and LinkedIn, 'have been forced to comply with the country's strict censorship demands,' the report notes.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.