Notices by Benedikt (bhaug@digitalcourage.social)

@protonprivacy @kuketzblog @chpietsch @aral @linuzifer

Andy Yen on Reddit, 2025-01-16,

"On Politics and Proton - a message from Andy
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

1/n

@protonprivacy @kuketzblog @chpietsch @aral @linuzifer

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.

2/

@protonprivacy @kuketzblog @chpietsch @aral @linuzifer

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.

3/

@protonprivacy @kuketzblog @chpietsch @aral @linuzifer

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."

4/4

Update:
Proton removed their response (link below) from Mastodon, seems they realized it exploded into their face.

Original toot:
After I had given #Protonmail the benefit of the doubt for one board member making inconsiderate and alarming statements on #MAGA #Trump, they have doubled down officially:
https://mastodon.social/@protonprivacy/113833073219145503

I therefore consider this official opinion of Proton. Focussing on one aspect and completely ignoring the bigger picture of a luming fascist period in the most militarized economy of the world is just inacceptable. Proton just could have kept their mouth shut, but they decided not to.
Thanks for revealing yourselves and happy to end my subscription, I won't support a company like you until you do better @protonprivacy

Please boost to spread this news if you find this important.

@kuketzblog @chpietsch @aral
@linuzifer

#ProtonExodus #Proton #E2E #Email #Privacy #Infosec

Under #capitalism the people are a natural resource to be exploited for wealth, just like minerals, wood, and arable land.

This is how the #BBC is manufacturing consent to genocide in us.

The BBC's Civil War Over Gaza
by Owen Jones
👇👇👇
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/bbc-civil-war-gaza-israel-biased-coverage

Excellent analysis on the #mediafailure at the world's most read news outlet (#BBC online) which is part of the broader failiure of the majority of "western" media regarding holding #Israel accountable. The situation at BBC can't be much different than the situation in the board rooms of #Tagesschau.

This genocide is happening now. Silence is complicity.

@uebermedien #media #gaza #GB #England #UK #media #journalism

👆
@ArneBab @TwraSun @Commander_KEEN @desperadoduck @stefanmuelller
@chpietsch
@Sui @thomas
@andreaskemper @fnberger @JonathanTreffler @SWeiermann @sebastianschroeder @BinGanzBrav
@recherche_jena
@jankorte
@wsuq
@istuetzle
@jrp
@MatthiasSchmelzer
@GuidoKuehn
@malteengeler
@JensBrodersen

Danke für deinen Einsatz für das AfD-Verbotsverfahren und alles Gute weiterhin Marco #Wanderwitz!

Wir machen weiter, übernehmen deinen Staffelstab. Zusammen sind wir stark gegen die :fckafd: ! Lass uns jetzt Druck aufbauen, denn die AfD hat in Wahrheit Muffensausen. Deshalb hat sie Marco Wanderwitz auf feige Art eingeschüchtert. Wenn wir jetzt nichts tun, hat sie gewonnen! Hier ein Vorschlag von mir:

0️⃣ Was kann ich tun?
Schreibe dem Direktkandidaten/deiner Direktkandidatin aus deinem Wahlkreis. Das hilft! ✍️ Lass uns jetzt Druck aufbauen! Das Verbotsverfahren kann gelingen!

1️⃣ Ok, wer ist das in meinem Fall?
https://www.bundestag.de/abgeordnete/wahlkreise/ (dort: via PLZ oder Karte suchen)

2️⃣ Wohin muss ich schreiben?
Miglied des Deutschen Bundestags
(Name)
Deutscher Bundestag
Platz der Republik 1
11011 Berlin

3️⃣ Wie muss ich schreiben?
https://donare.info/articles/wie_man_abgeordneten_schreibt

4️⃣ Hast du ein Beispiel, Benedikt?
https://benesblog.jimdofree.com/afd-verbot-brief/

Werde aktiv! :BoostOK:

#fckafd #antifaschismus #demokratie #depol #deutschland #verbotsverfahren #bundestag

In a world with man made climate change, hurricanes should have sponsor labels like NASCAR.

“Hurricane Milton is brought to you by British Petroleum”.

via vmaziman@lemm.ee

BREAKING: Das Bundesland Schleswig Holstein stellt seine gesamte Verwalttungssoftware auf Open Source um! 🎉🎉🎉
#schleswigholstein #opensource #foss #deutschland
https://www.ifun.de/linux-libreoffice-nextcloud-schleswig-holstein-baut-komplett-um-230299/

It's going down the drain over there...

"Search for the word “#climate” on #Twitter and the first automatic recommendation isn’t “climate crisis” or “climate jobs” or even “climate change” but instead “climate scam.”

Clicking on the recommendation yields dozens of posts denying the reality of climate change and making misleading claims about efforts to mitigate it.

Such misinformation has flourished on Twitter since it was bought by Elon Musk last year but the site isn’t the only one promoting content that scientists and environmental advocates say undercuts public support for policies intended to respond to a changing climate."

https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-inc-technology-science-social-media-a7e2e3214abb4470dcb6e2837aa39c2e

#musk #elonmusk #birdsite #climatecrisis #climatechange #climatedenial #climatescience #publicdiscourse #socialmedia