Microsoft under fire due to popular Word program's "Inclusiveness Checker," which polices all forms of non-inclusive speech

By arseniotoledo // 2024-10-29

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Big Tech company Microsoft is once again under fire after it introduced an "Inclusiveness Checker" in its popular Word program, with concerns being raised over the potential for "speech policing." The Inclusiveness Checker or Inclusivity Checker in Word can be used to check a person's writing for "gender, age, cultural bias and more." Word users can opt to deactivate this checker. But when it is used, when an individual writes anything using "non-inclusive" language, Word will suggest alternatives. (Related: OUR FATHER? NOPE… Liberal Christian church to drop male pronouns describing God for "gender inclusivity.") The said "tool" seems to work by flagging almost every word in the English language with a gendered connotation, including "mother" and "father." When users learned about the Inclusiveness Checker and attempted to see how far it would go, they found out that when using the term "maternity leave," the Checker would recommend changing the phrase with "birth-related leave," "parental leave" or "childbirth leave." When referring to "paternity leave," it suggests "child-bonding leave" as an alternative. When users attempted to input the term "postman," the Inclusiveness Checker would suggest "postal worker." When using the term "manpower," the Checker would recommend replacing the word with "workforce."

Microsoft accused of censorship, "speech policing" with Inclusiveness Checker

The Inclusiveness Checker was first deployed in 2019 as part of the incorporation of an artificial intelligence function in Microsoft Word. The Checker can also be found in other popular Microsoft programs, including PowerPoint and Outlook. Its widespread incorporation into most Microsoft applications has been flagged as concerning by free speech activists, worried that the tech giant may be attempting to include this Checker as a form of "speech policing." This is a particularly insidious form of language policing, "reminiscent of 'Nineteen Eighty-Four,'" warned Toby Young, director of the British nonprofit the Free Speech Union, referencing author George Orwell's seminal novel on totalitarianism and government repression of freedoms. "It's as though there's a censor in your computer scolding you for departing from politically correct orthodoxy." Didi Rankovic, writing for the online speech-focused web news outlet Reclaim The Net, similarly noted that the Inclusiveness Checker feels very reminiscent of "Orwell's dark dystopian world ruled by extreme censorship and government control." She added that while the use of the Inclusiveness Checker is currently an opt-in option for Word users, "one never knows what's around the corner" with companies like Microsoft. And if Word users would like to switch to different word processing programs, Rankovic has bad news: "[Google] also has a similar feature, introduced in 2022." "Google frowns at terms such as 'housewife' and 'landlord' and would rather you write 'stay-at-home spouse' and 'property owner,'" wrote Rankovic. Even Big Tech billionaire Elon Musk has come out in opposition to the Checker, noting how the program flagged him when he typed the word "insane." "Microsoft Word now scolds you if you use words that aren't 'inclusive,'" opined Musk. Watch this episode of the "Health Ranger Report" as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, discusses how efforts to be more "inclusive" toward the LGBT community are nothing more than an attempt to make the population obedient to the "LGBT cult." This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

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Microsoft accused of censorship, "speech policing" with Inclusiveness Checker

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