We Didn’t Get Into Science to Build Surveillance States or Genocide Tech

Take action now:

• Register for Science in Solidarity Action Hour:
  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/wxnDlXzhQHypIwScvcnRNg#/registration

• Tell the Senate: No more money for ICE

• Tell Microsoft: Stop enabling genocide

Most of us didn’t get into science for power, prestige, or profit.

We got into science because we were curious. Because we loved the natural world. Because we wanted to understand how things work — and use that understanding to make life better. Cleaner air. Safer water. Healthier communities. A future worth living in.

At its best, science is an act of care. A way of paying attention. A way of protecting life.

So it disturbs us deeply that right now, scientific knowledge and technological innovation are being used to expand surveillance, policing, militarization, and mass death — from ICE raids in the U.S. to genocide in Gaza, powered by corporate tech infrastructure.

This is not what we trained for.

When science becomes a weapon

Across the U.S., scientific and technical tools are being poured into expanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): facial recognition, biometric tracking, predictive analytics, massive data systems. These technologies make it easier to raid workplaces, separate families, and terrorize entire communities — all while funneling public money into policing instead of healthcare, housing, education, and climate resilience.

At the same time, tech corporations like Microsoft are providing cloud computing, AI, and data infrastructure that materially support Israeli military operations — systems used for mass surveillance, targeting, and population control against Palestinians.

These are not abstract connections.

They are concrete pipelines of power:
scientific labor → corporate contracts → state violence.

And when science is used this way, it doesn’t just harm targeted communities. It reshapes society for everyone.

When fear becomes infrastructure, democracy erodes.

When surveillance becomes normal, freedom shrinks.
When public money flows toward enforcement instead of care, working people of all races lose

Politicians and corporations benefit when we are divided — by race, nationality, religion, or immigration status — because division keeps attention away from who is hoarding wealth, extracting labor, and consolidating control.

That’s why attacks on immigrants, Palestinians, and marginalized communities are never isolated. They are part of the same system — one that treats some lives as disposable so others can remain comfortable.

Why scientists are organizing

Science does not exist in a vacuum.

When communities live under threat, research participation collapses. Public trust erodes. Health outcomes worsen. Entire populations are cut off from the benefits of scientific progress. And when our tools are used to build surveillance instead of safety, neutrality becomes complicity.

Across universities and research institutions, many of us are already feeling this shift:
Funding disappearing.
Colleagues targeted.
Research areas erased.
“Bad word lists” circulating.
Pressure to shrink our language, stay silent, comply in advance.

This is what authoritarianism looks like when it enters scientific institutions.

And it forces a choice:

Do we retreat into isolation and competition — or do we organize for a different future?

👉 This is why we’re inviting you to join the next Science in Solidarity Action Hour:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/wxnDlXzhQHypIwScvcnRNg#/registration

Why this Action Hour matters

The next Science in Solidarity Action Hour will focus on two connected actions — targeting both government power and corporate power.

Because real change requires confronting both.

1️⃣ Tell the Senate: No more money for ICE

Right now, Congress is debating whether to increase funding for ICE — an agency with a long record of racial profiling, workplace raids, family separation, indefinite detention, and deadly force.

We will call on Senators to block any budget that expands ICE and instead rein in its power.

This is about more than immigration policy. It’s about refusing a future built on fear, surveillance, and mass incarceration — and demanding public investments that actually help people thrive.

2️⃣ Tell Microsoft: Stop enabling genocide

At the same time, we are escalating direct corporate accountability, targeting Microsoft for its partnerships with the Israeli military and government.

Microsoft’s cloud, AI, and data infrastructure directly support systems used for surveillance, targeting, and military operations against Palestinians. This technology is not neutral. It materially enables mass violence.

By pressuring Microsoft, we are confronting the corporate actors who profit from war and repression — and insisting that scientific and technical labor must serve life, not death.

Why collective action matters

If we speak out alone, we are vulnerable.

But when we act together, we become powerful.

Science in Solidarity Action Hour exists to transform isolation into collective courage — to remind scientists, technologists, and science supporters that we are not alone, and we are not powerless.

When we show up together:

• Fear loosens

• Clarity sharpens

• Action becomes possible

This is how movements grow — not through heroics, but through disciplined, collective effort.

Join us: Science in Solidarity Action Hour

From ICE to Gaza: Organizing for Life-Giving Science

Together, we will:

• Learn what’s happening right now

• Take coordinated action targeting both the Senate and Microsoft

• Support each other in practicing courageous, collective resistance

• Build momentum for science that protects life, not power

🕒 60 minutes. Real impact. Collective power.

👉 Register here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/wxnDlXzhQHypIwScvcnRNg#/registration

The science we deserve

We didn’t get into science to build tools of surveillance and war.

We got into science to protect life — human and more-than-human. To expand wonder. To make it easier for people to breathe, heal, learn, and thrive.

If we want that kind of science, we have to organize for it.

Let’s choose life — together.