this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2025
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Summary

Proton Mail, known for its privacy-first email services, faced backlash after CEO Andy Yen praised the Republican Party and its antitrust stance.

The company initially posted and deleted a statement supporting Yen’s comments, later claiming an “internal miscommunication” and reiterating its political neutrality.

Critics question Proton’s impartiality, particularly as it cooperates with Swiss authorities on legal data requests.

Privacy advocates warn that political alignments could undermine trust, especially for Proton’s users—journalists and activists wary of government surveillance under administrations like Trump’s.

top 19 comments
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[–] Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 month ago (6 children)

Just when I'm done migrating all my email shit to Proton, the CEO turns out to be a nazi. A classic.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Only way to make sure your email isn’t run by a Nazi is to run it yourself.

Unless you’re a Nazi in which case FUCK OFF

[–] eclipse@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Even for the technically literate, running a mail server is an ongoing nightmare. If you think it's easy, you're not doing it right.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago

Which is why I let my email be run by Nazis.

Seriously I wish I could quit them but it’s too damn hard.

[–] wax@feddit.nu 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Same. Considered getting a domain for my email, but ended up just switching directly to the protonmail domain. Regretting that now.

[–] cygnus@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Getting your own domain is the best thing you can do, regardless of provider - it means they can't lock you in anymore.

[–] rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago

I gotta get a personal domain just for email, I don't really want my personal life mixed in with our small business domain; both due to the nature of the products and because I don't want to dox myself on either side of the work/life gulf. It's a shame too, because I am actually proud of our garage business.

[–] NOT_RICK_SANCHEZ@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

I was at a similar crossroads when trying to de-google and pulled the trigger on Tuta Mail instead of Proton. Very happy with my decision now after reading this.

[–] potate@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 month ago

Dagnabbit - I went all in on Proton as well. Why is it so hard to find an email provider that respects privacy and isn't run by people with 'problematic' views (i.e. people who wish people like me didn't exist)

[–] rocket_dragon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I did some more research and this is no joke:

https://www.ibtimes.com/tech-ceos-europe-call-europe-first-mentality-following-trumps-us-first-advocacy-3751551

Globalism is bad, being fair is bad, Europe-first, huh I wonder where we've heard this kind of rhetoric before.

[–] Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de -1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

The EU was initially a good idea, but it got too involved in national politics (anyone remembers the banana guideline that reads like a meme?). I still think, the EU is fine and we should keep it, but it should be a defensive alliance first and foremost and not some fucking merger that is advocating for the rich. Sadly, it's the rich that have the influence because, well, money and they are going to abuse it.

A call for isolation and autarky is a massive red flag and nothing good will ever happen after that, it always leads to exploitation and violence. The reason CEOs don't like globalism is because it's harder to create a monopoly on a global market than regional and capitalism strives for those because it hates competition.

[–] warm@kbin.earth -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

While the comments were not welcome and left a sour taste, we are blowing it a bit out of proportion here.

[–] ZeroCool@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

You don’t get to decide how other people feel and respond to the issue.

[–] TsarVul@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

I migrated literally everything from Gmail around 2021. Gotta tell ya, I feel just about dumb as shit right now. I kind of understand people with those "I bought this before he sieg heiled" bumper stickers on their Teslas.

[–] Kanzar@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

"If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality."

-Desmond Tutu

[–] iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago

"If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, but your CEO and official company social media accounts are publically praising the policies of the elephant, the mouse will not appreciate your alleged neutrality."

-iAmTheTot

[–] BroBot9000@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Yeah this is a masks off moment for them and people better be paying attention!

[–] pulsewidth@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Wow. There's a whole lot of people here reacting to the headline, and not actually reading the story. That's important, because the journalist's headline is (shocker) a huge overstatement.

I was concerned as I'm a Proton user and have been for years, and hard left politically, and despise Trump. But maybe lets just read it before reacting?

Here's what the CEO posted on Xitter:

10 years ago, Republicans were the party of big business and Dems stood for the little guys, but today the tables have completely turned.

Yep. That's a bad look. Doesn't make a lot of sense either because the Republicans are very much the party of big business and corporate handouts and deregulation in oil, gas, energy, mining, manufacture, industrial farming etc.

Then here's what Proton's team said on Reddit as an explanation and expansion of the CEO's post (and then later deleted):

Here is our official response, also available on the Mastodon post in the screenshot:

Corporate capture of Dems is real. In 2022, we campaigned extensively in the US for anti-trust legislation.

Two bills were ready, with bipartisan support. Chuck Schumer (who coincidentally has two daughters working as big tech lobbyists) refused to bring the bills for a vote.

At a 2024 event covering antitrust remedies, out of all the invited senators, just a single one showed up - JD Vance.

By working on the front lines of many policy issues, we have seen the shift between Dems and Republicans over the past decade first hand.

Dems had a choice between the progressive wing (Bernie Sanders, etc), versus corporate Dems, but in the end money won and constituents lost.

Until corporate Dems are thrown out, the reality is that Republicans remain more likely to tackle Big Tech abuses.

First off, I feel like I've read from hundreds of Lemmy users total agreement that the Democratic party is captured by corporate interests, so I really doubt any disagreement with that section of Proton's post. My reaction to the remainder is that it's not at all praise for the Republican party, just the factual statement of the sad reality that Republicans with their very hard-on-Silicon-Valley rhetoric are more likely to actually reign in the big tech companies than the Democratic party - and Proton is in a good position to have seen this first hand. Zero of the statement praises Trump or praises Republicans, and there is in fact lament that the Democrats didn't stick harder with their left-wing candidates, even highlighting Bernie. I can see why they deleted it though, it's office chatter than never should have left the cubicle.

TL;DR: storm in a teacup, I'll be keeping my Proton mail account.

p.s. yes this is my first Lemmy post. I'm a longtime lurker though. I felt strongly enough about this to make an account to post, as nobody seemed to be actually posting the content of the article - just reacting. Edit: typos & formatting of the quote.

[–] Croquette@sh.itjust.works -1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

If by reigning in big tech you mean a cartel style system where companies need to provide funds to Trump to continue existing, sure. But there is no chance that the Republicans will reign in big tech : they are big tech.

You are leaving out the part where Andy Yen said that the tables have turned and the Republicans are now the party of the small people.

Andy Yen's statement is downright pathetic and misleading. People are right to stir up shit because that's the only thing corpos understand.

This isn't a storm in a tea cup, this is the CEO of a company telling us who he really is and people choosing to tell him to get fucked.

Your post reeks of astroturfing.