this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2025
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Unnecessary and deeply concerning bow to the new "king"

Update: position got backed up by an official Proton post on Mastodon, it's an official Proton statement now. https://mastodon.social/@protonprivacy/113833073219145503

Update 2, plot-twist: they removed this response from Mastodon - seems they realize it exploded into their face!

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[–] lennivelkant@discuss.tchncs.de 43 points 2 days ago

Oh FFS, and here I was recently considering switching to ProtonMail... fuck the fuck off.

Dear CEOs: if you're eager to suck dick, I'm sure you can find someone better than authoritarian shitheads. Have some fucking standards.

[–] AnnaFrankfurter@lemmy.ml 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

OK let me add fuel to the fire. here in Andy's response he says the tweet was from last year which is technically true but it was from December 2024.

Also how can he think that Trump stands for little guys when he has elon musk as his pet monkey

[–] ShotDonkey@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

I actually thinknit's the other way round but anyway.

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

It’d actually be super useful if all of the VPN CEOs publicly stated which authoritarian leaders they are a fan of, so that consumers can make an informed choice on how easily they’ll sell you out to the security apparatus of your country.

[–] sol6_vi@lemmy.world 34 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I went through so much effort to move my small business and team over to proton. wtf.

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[–] Jarix@lemmy.world 18 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Just some advice for all of you affected by this.

Begin demanding a response from the ownership of this company.

"Is this Message approved by your board, and owners"

Just leaving doesnt make a difference, and some of you in the comments bought services right before this. That fucking sucks.

We dont have journalists and media on our side to help any more(arguably we never did, but that's a separate discussion)

I think there are still good bones in Proton, but you know where at least one piece cancer is, and its in the worst spot. Demand as stakeholders that they remove the cancer or admit its not going to happen. Repeat your messages until they publicy respond as a company not just the head of it.

Its a shame if you dont do at least as much as expressing that they owe you an explanation and that you need the company as a whole, to why this had happened

This is a betrayal to many of you, tell them exactly what they need to do

Good luck. It only takes one of you to suceed and we all win

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[–] MrMeanJavaBean@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I was just going to start my de-google to Proton. Time for a new plan.

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[–] Carighan@lemmy.world 29 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Extra weird because this is always the narrative, yet Trump could be any further from "standing up for the little guys" if he tried. It's the same with the AfD in Germany, their voted policies (which is public as per the EU regulations) are as anti-consumer pro-corpo as you can be, even edging our truly crazy libertarian money sucker positions.

[–] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 14 points 2 days ago

"standing up for the little guys" actually means "being racist as fuck". Hope this helps you understand their position.

[–] kepix@lemmy.world 21 points 2 days ago (1 children)

"omg, turns out this big tech company is not my friend"

[–] Tja@programming.dev 19 points 2 days ago

I don't know if I would describe proton as a big tech company. Even if they were, their whole pitch is "you can trust us".

[–] Jonnynny@lemm.ee 43 points 2 days ago (5 children)

I am dissapointed that my VPN is getting involved in US politics. This is not something I want for this kind of service. I dont want to debate US politics here. That being said, I cancelled my annual autorenew for April and I would like some recommendations. Originally I was deciding between Mulvad and Proton. I've also seen some people in this thread using Tuta? I am in Europe and just want a service that prioritizes anonyminity and data protection. I don't know how the dust will settle on all this Proton stuff. What would you all recommend for a provider?

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[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 74 points 2 days ago (5 children)

So Proton is out.

Sorry, I won't trust a service that licks fascist boots.

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[–] pfr@lemmy.sdf.org 53 points 2 days ago (4 children)

They're is no way Trump wrote that tweet. It is full of punctuation and clearly gets a point across. It was clearly written by someone else. Nevertheless, time to delete protonmail.

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[–] HorikBrun@kbin.earth 314 points 3 days ago (40 children)
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[–] Rogue@feddit.uk 15 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

Does anyone have links to the dumpster fire of a reddit thread in one or the Proton subs? There was also one of r/privacy but I can't find either so suspect they've been deleted to try to quell the flames.

It was very entertaining drama

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[–] TootTootComingThru@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago
[–] No_Eponym@lemmy.ca 44 points 2 days ago (2 children)
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[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 203 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (5 children)

Standing up for the little guy. Huh. Is that why billionaires and CEO are throwing literal tens of millions at Trump? Why he staffed his cabinet with billionaires? Why the center of his policy is tax cuts for the giga wealthy, at the expense of everyone else and the national debt, at a time where wealth inequality is literally tearing the country apart?

https://www.axios.com/2025/01/15/trump-windfall-fundraising-500-million

https://www.axios.com/2024/12/09/trump-wealth-cabinet-politicians-billionaires

These are objective, public facts. Like, I'm way more conservative than Lemmy’s center and willing acknowledge any good Trump does, but what reality is this guy living in? Who is this statement for? Who the heck does he think is using Proton services? He just pissed off his employees and customers for… What?

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[–] nieminen@lemmy.world 62 points 2 days ago (10 children)

Been using their paid service for months. I have so many aliases. I'm just surprised. Surely this company knows its biggest user base has to be too educated to let this slide.

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[–] egerlach@lemmy.ca 134 points 3 days ago (32 children)

The official @protonprivacy@mastodon.social account replied and doubled down

protonprivacy@mastodon.social - @jonah

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 coincidently 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.

1/2

protonprivacy@mastodon.social - @jonah 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.

2/2

(Less importantly, my response)

[–] dance_ninja@lemmy.world 118 points 3 days ago (11 children)

So sounds like their main concern is addressing the abuses of the FAANG monopolies, and only a Republican has talked to them about it.

I guess that is understandable in that very narrow lens, but it's a bit laughable considering how all the big tech companies are also cozying up to the Trump administration. All this has done for me is make me wary of anything Proton does now.

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[–] Onyx376@lemmy.ml 32 points 2 days ago

Really disappointing. Never imagined this from Proton. Truly dead to me now.

[–] kerrigan778@lemmy.world 67 points 3 days ago (10 children)

People somehow still surprised by Switzerland being neutral on Naziism

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[–] Irelephant@lemm.ee 61 points 3 days ago

Why can't we have nice things?

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 31 points 2 days ago (1 children)
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[–] TheFrirish@jlai.lu 11 points 2 days ago (5 children)

Things are taking a wild turn.

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[–] archchan@lemmy.ml 48 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (7 children)

Honestly I'll still be using Proton and recommending it because it's just good and a net benefit for everyone, but goddammit Andy you should've taken Swiss neutrality to heart this time and not said anything.

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[–] krolden@lemmy.ml 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Lol hate to say I told y'all so

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[–] dipcart@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

What's the best way to transfer to another secure email provider?

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