Original post by u/Proton_Team on Reddit, reposting here so everyone is in the loop on updates.

Hi all, last night, a post from last year from my personal X account suddenly became a topic of discussion here on Reddit. I want to share a few thoughts on this to provide clarity to the community on what is Proton’s policy on politics going forward.

First, while the X post was not intended to be a political statement, I can understand how it can be interpreted as such, and it therefore should not have been made. While we will not prohibit all employees from expressing personal political opinions publicly, it is something I will personally avoid in the future. I lean left on some issues, and right on other issues, but it doesn’t serve our mission to publicly debate this. It should be obvious, but I will say that it is a false equivalence to say that agreeing with Republicans on one specific issue (antitrust enforcement to protect small companies) is equal to endorsing the entire Republican party platform.

Second, officially Proton must always be politically neutral, and while we may share facts and analysis, our policy going forward will be to share no opinions of a political nature. The line between facts, analysis, and opinions can be blurry at times, but we will seek to better clarify this over time through your feedback and input.

The exception to these rules is on the topics of privacy, security, and freedom. These are necessarily political topics, where influencing public policy to defend these values, often requires engaging politically.

The operations of Proton have always reflected our neutrality. For example, recently we refused pressure to deplatform both Palestinian student groups and Zionist student groups, not because we necessarily agreed with their views, but because we believe more strongly in their right to have their own views.

It is also a legal guarantee under Swiss law, which explicitly prohibits us from assisting foreign governments or agencies, and allows us no discretion to show favoritism as Swiss law and Swiss courts have the final say.

The promise we make is that no matter your politics, you will always be welcome at Proton (subject of course to adherence to our terms and conditions). When it comes to defending your right to privacy, Proton will show no favoritism or bias, and will unconditionally defend it irrespective of the opinions you may hold.

This is because both Proton as a company, and Proton as a community, is highly diverse, with people that hold a wide range of opinions and perspectives. It’s important that we not lose sight of nuance. Agreeing/disagreeing with somebody on one point, rarely means you agree/disagree with them on every other point.

I would like to believe that as a community there is more that unites us than divides us, and that privacy and freedom are universal values that we can all agree upon. This continues to be the mission of the non-profit Proton Foundation, and we will strive to carry it out as neutrally as possible.

Going forward, I will be posting via u/andy1011000. Thank you for your feedback and inputs so far, and we look forward to continuing the conversation.

  • Fizz@lemmy.nz
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    1 day ago

    The thing is that response is bullshit. He intended it to be a political statement he trashed Democrats to gain favor with Republicans. He hit on a common right wing talking point ans when callee out he tried to pass it off as just fact. He couldn’t defend his statement when people came with a comparison of the facts.

    Now he’s doing the worst thing, trying to play both sides. Oh you lean left on some issues and right on some issues. I’d be pretty fucking careful saying I lean right on some issues considering how extreme the American right is. In the current political landscape the middle ground is not possible. You cannot have consistent morals and be in the middle.

    • Zagorath@aussie.zone
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      14 hours ago

      I thought this comment (and the thread below it…and the lack of any reply to it despite the CEO being all over the thread elsewhere) was pretty telling.

      It’s much less of a strong tell, but is slightly concerning that he’s picked up language like “triggered”. As comments there say, his excuse of not being in-tune with American politics could be real, but are also possibly just plausible deniability, because he may have picked up on that language by hanging out online with fascists.

      • Fizz@lemmy.nz
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        9 hours ago

        Yes exactly! It also left a really sour taste when the CEO started aruging his side then when he realized he was getting cooked he was like “oh I dont want to discuss politics lets just drop this”

      • Nightwatch Admin@feddit.nl
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        22 hours ago

        Depends on who you ask: Magats will probably say that he is yellow, so a ch*nk. Poor Andy wants to be a token I guess.

    • DolphinMath@slrpnk.net
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      1 day ago

      This is the same kind of horseshit opinion that led to the logic of “we don’t negotiate with terrorists.”

      There is nothing wrong with trying to find common ground with people you disagree with. Life is not a zero sum game, and I’m sick and tired of all this needless and divisive outrage. Ya’ll need to chill the fuck out and quit attacking everyone that is less than perfect from your perspective.

      • Fizz@lemmy.nz
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        22 hours ago

        I understand your comment and if it was any other right wing president I would agree and would not be taking such a harsh stance. Trump is different. Trump is not just ideologically opposed to me passing things I disagree with. Trump directly attacks and threatens the lives of the people I care about. He changes the culture in a way that makes me sick to my stomach. His views are something I cannot accept.

      • cygnus@lemmy.ca
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        22 hours ago

        Cool, can you explain to us how your centrist approach would work in practice? Should Trump only remove some rights from trans people? Only deport 500,000 immigrants instead of one million?

      • daddy32@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        No, you don’t try to find a common ground with trump. That would make you an asshole.

        • RedditRefugee69@lemmynsfw.com
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          22 hours ago

          I don’t like to compare him to Hitler much, but it’s an apt example of why trying to find common ground is not automatically virtuous. Sometimes you don’t want to do that.