Pilots say Qatar Airways monitors and muzzles staff online

Staff at Qatar Airways who vent work worries online say the state carrier is retaliating with legal threats and job cuts - part of a growing corporate trend to monitor and muzzle employees who dare speak out. Advocates say the carrier’s attempts to silence employees and delete critical posts - be it in private or public forums - contravenes staff rights to privacy and free expression. “It’s a very straightforward case of violating not just labour rights but human rights – the freedom of association and expression,” said Thulsi Narayanasamy, head of labour rights at the Business and Human Rights Resource Center, which tracks the human rights policies of companies worldwide. The airline, which sponsors the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be staged in Qatar, would not comment on allegations that it had closed down legitimate debate or sidelined those who led it. But advocates say its use of lawsuits and redundancies is part of a growing pattern by companies to monitor private chat by staff then unmask its anonymous online critics. “It’s incredibly sinister,” added Narayanasamy, who said the trend had ballooned during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Thomson Reuters Foundation spoke to three current or former staff of the state-run airline who believe they were directly punished for voicing their worries online. In June, Qatar Airways filed a personal injury claim of more than $25,000 in a Los Angeles court against at least two anonymous accounts that had been posting on a forum known as the Professional Pilots Rumour Network, or PPRUNE. According to court documents, QA believed the two accounts belonged to employees who had shared “confidential information” about the firm’s hiring and firing processes.<br/>