this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2026
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That’s exactly what they said in this response
No, there is not an antifascist position on their statement. Only a ultracentrist position based on the reaction of their user base/market.
Moving the goalposts. You said they need to drop the fascist from their sponsorship and they did. They also committed to not doing it in the future. They did exactly what you said.
On top of that, companies are not your friends and they don’t need political positions. Not supporting fascists is perfectly adequate.
No, I didnt't say that. I've said:
See the original paragraph:
I understand that they would have removed also the sponsorship of a feminist, vegan or antiracist that created discontent in their use base (by being feminist, vegan or antiracist).
Exactly. I'm a but grumpy about that response because their just saying that if his opinion would be more main stream, they wouldn't back down on the sponsorship.
I think you're extremely confused as to what Proton is and the service they offer.
I also think it's because you're falling (or have fallen) into the tribalist view of "if you're not with us, you're against us, and if you're against them, you're with us".
Proton is a-political, pro-agenda. Their agenda is "net neutrality, privacy, security". They don't care who makes that happen, and will support anyone who fights for these things.
They won't take an antifascist position because that would put them on the political spectrum.
I also understand that - to you - not making that statement already puts them on the political spectrum, in the opposing camp, but that's, again, due to the tribalist views.
They've praised left-wingers and right-wingers, they've criticised Democrats and Republicans - as long as anyone pushes for their agenda, they will praise them, as long as someone threatens their agenda, they will criticise them. That's all there is to it.
They have also said that if the user base finds their sponsorship or seeming alignment with any other divisive agenda, they welcome feedback.
I'm not following their PR engagement, but if anyone feels strongly about them aligning with furbys, they are welcome to feedback.
that's PR talk for "we didn't mind until you did"
Sure. That's more than many other companies do.
Proton or any other company doesn't owe anyone anything more than what they're paid for. Everything else is CSR if you like.
"many companies are doing it" is not an excuse. if they are taking my money and giving it to nazis for the spread of society-destabilizing propaganda, that's very much something they owe an explanation to society for.
and might not be something an upstanding person would want to keep paying for either.
I applaud you for holding all the companies you engage with to the highest of your ethical standards.
I'll be here content with the middle ground.
there is no "middle ground". we are literally talking about fascism.
what else would one be trying to hide from with all that encryption?
I don't see myself as 'hiding' from facism. We need to stamp it out.
Now I'm not even sure what we're arguing about.
we don't stamp stuff out by financing it.
Well then, the answer is clear - vote with your wallet.
no such thing as voting fascism out.
I'm not following your train of thought. What is the appropriate response? How do we remove facism?
collectively deciding not to tolerate it at all is step 0. we seem to be missing it so far.
Let's be specific - in what way should the intolerance of fascists manifest?
maybe not lining up to justify, normalize and even pay for it.
The goalposts when it comes to fascists has been the same since the 1940s. Nobody moved shit.
I think it's smart as a privacy focused initiative to be more neutral than not. Especially as they cater to the masses that may not have as defined an opinion.
I strongly dissagree. Cannot be neutrality with fascism.
Oh i agree. Neutrality doesn't mean embracing nor endorsing fascism, nor any other extreme.
But humans being humans will always selectively interpret any public facing message to fit their narrative as many have already done here: "Because they aren't outright condemning or fighting the enemy, they must be working with them! Therefore, they are not friends."
/U/encryptkeeper has said it better.
Case in point: their CEO saying that Trump's appointment of a famously anti-trust prosecutor into a high ant-trust position was a good thing caused so many people to lose their shit because "Proton is now MAGA" somehow.