I saw Andy’s post. And I’ve seen a bunch of reactions and people proclaiming to cancel their accounts. And I think the negative reactions are all a little strong.
No, I didn’t love Andy’s statement and I certainly don’t support Trump. Yes, he goofed up by using the official proton account to respond. But is Andy or Proton supporting or funding Trump or anyone else in US politics? Do the statements directly affect proton’s operations or services? No? Then how much does this really matter? Does Andy’s statement even tell us that much about his personal politic?
I realize there are many reasons for people to not support Trump, notably minority groups. But using Proton services is a big step removed from “supporting Trump”. Moreover, we don’t have many alternative to proton. There are a few and people should feel free to explore them. But I also don’t know about the political opinions of leaders at those companies. We rarely know this kind of information when spending money.
For me, proton is still a good company, providing good and valuable services, and operating in ways that I support (Swiss non-profit). Andy’s presumed political alignment and dumb comment doesn’t negate all the good stuff.
Edit: Ok! Turns out I didn’t see the “official response”. Ya it’s bad. I dislike this a whole lot more. Apparently, Proton is involved with US politics. IMO, this really does give people a reason to vote with their wallet.
It’s a shame though because they’re right about corporate democrats vs progressive democrats. We (the US) really needed Bernie Sanders and he was thrown out by crappy politics. Still, corporate democrats are a hell of a lot better than fascism.
Yeah… I think I’m going to stay with them but this was a really really dumb stunt he pulled.
Maybe it’s just to get favorable treatment for Proton but he’s playing with fire especially as many people that value privacy the most are the people that need privacy from the kind of authoritarian strongmen like Trump.
You’re kind of scaring away the people that need you the most.
My 2¢ on this, I can see why he thinks what he is doing is a good idea. Proton is an EU company thats main product is privacy focused and something that authoritarians dont like. With the recent tiktok curfuffle the US has set a precident for making rulings against foreign companies they dont like (because 47 wants to be authoritarian). To me it seems like he is just taking his turn kissing the ring, and given the [gestures broadly to everything] I dont expect to see many companies refusing to do so.
The worst part was not Andy’s initial posts it was his initial “let me correct the narrative” follow ups where he went on to bash Democrats and call the Republicans the party of the little guy, which is in many ways untruthful.
It’s just a really bad look overall. This is basically how it started with us finding out Musk was such a mess too.
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.
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.
I guess it was the initial one where he said the little guy stuff, regardless he doubles down on the partisan politics. This was posted through the official Proton account as well.
Like, he had a bad expense with Chuck and basically nobody including 99% of Republicans showed up to his party … So clearly we should all just forget all the other problematic stuff that Republicans have done.
I think he doesn’t get the part about US politics where most of the time party leaders won’t bring bills unless they’re major flag flying things (like immigration in the Republican House) or they’ll actually pass.
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Honestly, I agree.
I saw Andy’s post. And I’ve seen a bunch of reactions and people proclaiming to cancel their accounts. And I think the negative reactions are all a little strong.
No, I didn’t love Andy’s statement and I certainly don’t support Trump. Yes, he goofed up by using the official proton account to respond. But is Andy or Proton supporting or funding Trump or anyone else in US politics? Do the statements directly affect proton’s operations or services? No? Then how much does this really matter? Does Andy’s statement even tell us that much about his personal politic?
I realize there are many reasons for people to not support Trump, notably minority groups. But using Proton services is a big step removed from “supporting Trump”. Moreover, we don’t have many alternative to proton. There are a few and people should feel free to explore them. But I also don’t know about the political opinions of leaders at those companies. We rarely know this kind of information when spending money.
For me, proton is still a good company, providing good and valuable services, and operating in ways that I support (Swiss non-profit). Andy’s presumed political alignment and dumb comment doesn’t negate all the good stuff.
Edit: Ok! Turns out I didn’t see the “official response”. Ya it’s bad. I dislike this a whole lot more. Apparently, Proton is involved with US politics. IMO, this really does give people a reason to vote with their wallet.
It’s a shame though because they’re right about corporate democrats vs progressive democrats. We (the US) really needed Bernie Sanders and he was thrown out by crappy politics. Still, corporate democrats are a hell of a lot better than fascism.
I don’t like it either, but got now it’s still better than Google that donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund.
I hope proton let’s Andy go as their CEO since he’s damaging their reputation so much.
Yeah… I think I’m going to stay with them but this was a really really dumb stunt he pulled.
Maybe it’s just to get favorable treatment for Proton but he’s playing with fire especially as many people that value privacy the most are the people that need privacy from the kind of authoritarian strongmen like Trump.
You’re kind of scaring away the people that need you the most.
My 2¢ on this, I can see why he thinks what he is doing is a good idea. Proton is an EU company thats main product is privacy focused and something that authoritarians dont like. With the recent tiktok curfuffle the US has set a precident for making rulings against foreign companies they dont like (because 47 wants to be authoritarian). To me it seems like he is just taking his turn kissing the ring, and given the [gestures broadly to everything] I dont expect to see many companies refusing to do so.
Honestly yeah, I want to believe that it’s a strategic move… I worry it’s just what he truly believes though.
That’s my thought, it was directed @ trump. Trump likes being fawned over.
Absolutely. It doesn’t inspire trust in your customers.
The worst part was not Andy’s initial posts it was his initial “let me correct the narrative” follow ups where he went on to bash Democrats and call the Republicans the party of the little guy, which is in many ways untruthful.
It’s just a really bad look overall. This is basically how it started with us finding out Musk was such a mess too.
Huh. Maybe I didn’t see everything then? I’ll go digging again
I guess it was the initial one where he said the little guy stuff, regardless he doubles down on the partisan politics. This was posted through the official Proton account as well.
Like, he had a bad expense with Chuck and basically nobody including 99% of Republicans showed up to his party … So clearly we should all just forget all the other problematic stuff that Republicans have done.
I think he doesn’t get the part about US politics where most of the time party leaders won’t bring bills unless they’re major flag flying things (like immigration in the Republican House) or they’ll actually pass.
Privacy is neither for either party.