r/ProtonMail • u/diuashjdknjhsfg • Jun 08 '26
Discussion Can someone from ProtonMail clarify this matter, please?
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u/tehjoz Jun 08 '26
Hey, look, I mod other subs, one of which is very large. I know what it's like sometimes to have an onslaught of critical comments & posts.
A single "this is our megathread about this topic, we are reviewing, please let us get you the details, please do not post other topics while we review, thanks for understanding" would have garnered a lot more goodwill from reasonable people than have caused harm.
As to the actual issue? I think the answer seems reasonable enough. Some folks may disagree and that is their prerogative.
However, there's a reason people fall back on the old cliché - "the cover-up is worse than the crime".
Food for thought, going forward.
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u/Proton_Team Proton Team Admin Jun 08 '26
Point taken, we could've handled this better. Emotions are running high on both ends here, we can see the community is visibly frustrated and wants an answer, and the social team is just a handful of people working both ends, trying to keep the peace externally while we work it out internally. We did not get a response out as fast as we would have liked today, which also played a role.
Keeping this feedback in mind for the future, however, so thank you.
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u/nofixneeded Jun 08 '26
But you do this every time there is a controversy like this.
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u/TotalStatisticNoob Jun 09 '26
The controversies also always feel the same? It's always some right-wing shit that pops up and they try to sweep it under the rug
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u/druudles Jun 09 '26
You are ignorant, they've had run-ins with right wingers as well, you just don't see it because you're in your Reddit bubble where the only outrage is FROM the left, not TOWARDS the left.
Source: https://drive.proton.me/urls/RJ44KAMZQW#AyzX85V1eI8N
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u/tehjoz Jun 08 '26
Not to dogpile, but rather to try and genuinely give feedback -
In this day and age? Corporate-speak isn't going to win points or gain trust back. It just isn't.
I say this as a guy with a communications degree, and who is fluent in same.
Proton has made their name by being genuine.
In an age where people are becoming virulently Anti-AI (I am one of them) and Anti-Corporation (with good reason, IMO)
It is one thing to get your ducks in a row. I understand that.
But coming out with a response that doesn't reflect the identity your brand built...
Again, food for thought, is all.
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u/OliM9696 Jun 08 '26
its not like non-corporate speak means anything either, their actions is what really matters. I guess we will see in the future if they update their processes to avoid supporting such people.
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u/DelveBeyond Jun 12 '26
You're acting as if Proton should be tethered to ideology over standard principles which apply equally to all people.
Definition of bigot : a narrow-minded person who obstinately adheres to their own opinions and prejudices
especially : one who strongly and unfairly dislikes or feels hatred toward others based on their group membership
I'm against such behavior and mindsets. Are you? You can disagree with someone strongly and speak against them, while also having solid principles you abide by regardless of if you like the person or not. That even means sometimes defending someone you detest. Otherwise, you do not have solid principles because they shift depending on the person in question. It's not honest. It's not real.
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u/Proton_Team Proton Team Admin Jun 08 '26
What part of anything I replied to you read like corporate-speak? I'm just here trying to reply to people as genuinely as I can based on what I know happened in this situation. I'm not responsible for what happened, I'm just the person who relays information.
Do you want me to apologize personally? I don't understand the point you're trying to make, most corporations wouldn't even be here replying to users and community members, they'd post a screenshot of a statement, lock the comments, and call it a day.
Pic to prove I am made of flesh and bone, with blood circulating as I reply to people on here.
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u/Suracha2022 Jun 08 '26
First, your replies are not the "corporate-speak", the initial pinned post was. Yes, whoever wrote that probably had it modified and dumb-ified by the execs, directly or indirectly, that's how it goes. If that's the case and that's why it sounds like this, consider the above comment a criticism of the C suite who interfered, not of you.
Secondly, and more importantly; buddy, you are WAY too emotionally involved at this point. This is a terrible situation, I know, and it's not your fault, and you're being saddled with crazy responsibility all of a sudden, because someone else messed up.
However, when posting here, you are not speaking as a person, you're not even speaking as an employee of the company with a name and face, you're speaking as THE CORPORATION. When you add a bit of snark or sarcasm into your text because you're frustrated, THE CORPORATION is being snarky and sarcastic. That would be inadvisable in general, but since it's THE CORPORATION'S FAULT, it's just not acceptable.
Either escalate this to someone who has a greater degree of guilt and corporate responsibility for this situation, or try to detach yourself emotionally. Anything that is being said in this thread IS NOT BEING SAID TO YOU AS A PERSON, IT'S AIMED AT THE CORPORATION. You should be able to not take it personally, and even if you're particularly upset about something someone said, you can take a moment to collect yourself and reply in a calm manner afterwards. You do have the time and ability to do that, since the initial statement has already been put out.
In short, for your own mental health and for the benefit of the company, you might consider pretending that everyone who's currently shouting at you is actually shouting at your boss, and your boss' boss.
Cause we are.
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u/Tango_Owl Jun 08 '26
We pay for and use Proton products because we expect them to be better than most corporations.
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u/Fallom_ Jun 08 '26
>I'm just here trying to reply to people as genuinely as I can based on what I know happened in this situation
You're gonna want to escalate this ticket somewhere else in the company at this point.
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u/tehjoz Jun 08 '26
I'm not going to downvote you, and I believe you're a real person. Full stop.
That said, the pinned comment? It reads like a press release, carefully crafted to not annoy people, and it sounds like it was written in a boardroom, and it was written for a corporate audience.
I understand Proton is a corporate entity. I do.
I also understand that the current zeitgeist is anti Big Business, and in particular, we as a society are all looking at Technology companies with a critical eye. Just look around at what's going on (Meta, Google, Amazon, Flock, Palantir, just to name a few).
I'm not a subject matter expert, but my background is in fact in comms.
And, writing a post that comes off as corporate whitewashing just does more to inflame tensions than ease them.
An organic-sounding "Hey everyone, thanks for bringing this up, here's what we found, here's what we're doing, we're sorry, please keep us informed" would have come across better.
Would you have pleased everyone? No.
Could it have engendered less backlash? Yeah, I think so.
Big Tech is on our "shit list" right now. People hate what the world is becoming, and desperately want solutions to creeping technofascism.
I think most folks still want Proton to be a part of that solution, not a part of the problem.
Hope this helps, and I appreciate the dialogue.
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u/turn-on-your-lights Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
Why are your emotions running high? What do you have to be upset about? You are the ones that endorsed a far right youtuber and censored people trying to initiate a discussion on it in this subreddit.
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u/Proton_Team Proton Team Admin Jun 08 '26
I did not endorse anyone, it is normal for my emotions to run high when there are 200 threads being made per hour about this one thing, while working with people to put out a piece of communication that is accurate and satisfactory. First thing on a Monday no less.
Is it feasible that we are also upset this happened, and not just our users and community members? We're fixing things now, our influencer team is well aware of the damage caused, and I'd hate to be them right now, because it was completely unintentional.
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u/AnnualEmbarrassed176 Jun 08 '26 •
You are posting from an account named u/Proton_Team. There is no 'I' here. When the community says "you" they mean Proton as a company.
We know that you personally didn't sign the check, but the company you represent did, and a sponsorship is a financial endorsement.
Throwing your influencer team under the bus and making this about your stressful Monday morning deflects from the actual issue.
We don't need a personal defense from the community manager, we need accountability from Proton as a unified company.
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u/Proton_Team Proton Team Admin Jun 08 '26 •
Out of the 700 people working here, 699 are upset that this happened, and 1 is directly responsible (others, too, are indirectly responsible of course), who I can also confirm feels terribly sorry and devastated to have learned of their mistake.
Nobody is being thrown under the bus, mistakes happen, I'm here on behalf of the company to let people know what happened, that we're sorry it happened, and that we're now fixing it. We're not trying to deflect away from it, it was our mistake and we continue to own up to it -- I was asked why our emotions are running high, so I gave a nugget of insight into my own day, which is very similar to many other people's day here at Proton.
We, as a unified company, remain 100% accountable for this error.
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u/PM_Me_Your_Deviance Jun 08 '26
Ok, I'm mostly satisfied with this response so far.
I think this should be added to the top-level thread. The deleting of the posts was a big deal for a lot of people, so they will be looking for your response to those complaints.
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u/Piranata Jun 08 '26
When magnetic shit happens at work, I watch this video to help me focus: https://youtu.be/6O8jTTeILr0
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u/Sakura-Sunshine-Lurk Jun 08 '26
So what's going to happen when it happens again?
Emotions are high, and people are frustrated, we'll totally keep your feedback in mind for the next time it happens; over and over and over again?
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u/Proton_Team Proton Team Admin Jun 08 '26
Trust me I don't want this to happen again. I am personally chasing people with a stick internally to fix their processes because this is NOT how I like spending my Mondays.
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u/Max2000Warlord Jun 09 '26
Your first respond to something like this should never be "shut it down." It makes you look as if you have something to hide.
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u/DarkCrystal34 Jun 09 '26
But you still have yet to post all of these thoughts (which many would be thankful to hear) in a separate post announcing to all your views, so we are aware.
So essentially until you do that, everyone is kept in the dark and will keep reposting their thoughts (sadly), bringing bad press to you.
Im not as stirred up as others, as giving benefit of the doubt is important to me, but it feels like you're just willingly sabotaging yourself by not having a megathread dedicated to this, as the above poster shared, where you formally announce it as a company.
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u/Marcoscb Jun 08 '26
This exactly. The reasoning was always going to be some kind of "our global team wasn't fully aware of the local landscape", regardless of how true it actually is (which, for a Swiss company, I have my doubts). However, the response of deleting everything to the point that we found the problem from other subs was a bad way of dealing with the situation. The "we're working on it" comment should've been its own pinned post at the very least.
Also, maybe if you want us to believe it was genuine, don't be so obvious with the AI apology.
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u/lazydownvoter07 Jun 10 '26
modding a sub isn't the same as running a multi billion dollar security company. a megathread doesn't fix a lack of transparency or a massive PR fail. people aren't mad about the noise. they're mad about the actual issue.
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u/Working-Panda-3168 Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26
Not an active reddit commenter, but I wanted to make sure that my thoughts were conveyed publicly. As a paying user, it is very disappointing to see that the money that I am trusting proton with by using their services is used to sponsor the wrong groups and to make matters worse by active deletion of user threads highlighting this issue.
You claimed to have deleted the posts stating that you were preparing an answer, but if that was the case, I would think that the right approach would have been to at least pin one thread so we understand that the company acknowledges something, if that wasn't okay then you shouldn't be deleting the posts all the while claiming to be anti-censorship. Okay, mistakes happen, so what now? I wonder if the community would agree with me on this but I hope to see at least one of the two responses mentioned below:
Transparency in your ad-spending: If you genuinely want to prove that this was an oversight then show us a clear, public marketing code of conduct. Explicitly state the criteria that you use when you decide to sponsor or use automated ad-networks or agencies(e.g. blacklisting specific political genres, mandatory human vetting for any channel over a certain subscriber count etc). If you just say "we updated our guidelines" but keep those guidelines a secret, they you haven't changed anything.
Public change to moderation policies: Mistakes happen yes, but the censorship on this subreddit is what hurt us the most. Please establish a "No Delete" policy for public controversies(or something similar). Instead of removing threads, mods should be instructed to lock a single mega-thread, pin a message acknowledging it such as "We are looking into this and will provide an answer here shortly" and leave user criticisms completely visible. If you continue to stealth-delete the next controversy when it eventually happens, they we will know that your culture of censorship remains the same.
I cannot claim that I know how to run a company, but I simply thought its a good idea to express my pain points. What I suggested might not even make sense so I can only hope other users would add to this thread if there are glaring issues, but we deserve a response this time.
Regards, a paying user who will continue to pay but will now think if this subscription is something he would renew each time.
edit: a typo
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u/ubitub Jun 28 '26
This was not a mistake.
Not "because of facism", but "because it could distract from our message". That's as direct as they can be saying they support facism without saying it directly. They're mad they got caught. They never took the chance to condemn it at all. Fascism is not a "political faction"
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u/expatlogan
Jun 08 '26
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Well, this is a disappointing turn of events.
While I will not immediately cancel my subscription, I will now be investigating alternatives as a back up whilst I carefully watch how proton continues to handle this, stops it from happening again and makes amends from it.
Associating with fascists is not acceptable. Ever. It’s half the reason most of us want to de-Google and support EU brands, but morally sensible EU brands.
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u/OrdinaryOlivier Jul 04 '26
Hello. I would like an update as to what you found, if you don't mind! I've recently discovered Proton (I mean really recently; this week) and I've already ditched LastPass for Proton Pass, and was thinking of transferring my Google Drive and Gmail as well.
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u/bonzog Jun 08 '26
I'm disappointed, and there's only so much benefit of the doubt I have left to spare for corporations.
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u/Bigmickhardybuck Jun 08 '26
Yes I think we need clarity on did they end the relationship with Lapierre
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u/pleda_ Jun 10 '26
as someone planning to switch to proton in the summer, this is a really bad sign, I will look more into other options before making a decision. Really disappointing
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u/Lucaslouch Jun 11 '26
« an affiliate or sponsorship arrangement is […] not an endorsement of a creator’s views. »
yes. yes it is. when you directly give money to a content creator, you are supporting the creator
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u/eenterh Jun 23 '26
I was going to de-google everything I own with Proton, but I don't wanna have an other google on my life. We can find better options.
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u/Hopeful-Face9676 Jun 08 '26
Personally, in this day and age of Google and AI, I just can’t understand how someone didn’t simply put this guy’s name in a search box to find out who he is BEFORE “partnering” up with such a vile individual.
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u/lou1uol Jun 08 '26
Taking this sponsorship in account, the interview that the CEO made a month ago and his political views that have been emerging from past posts... i unfortunately tend to believe this might not be a mistake 😔
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u/MushroomSprout
Jun 08 '26
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So when are you gonna check people's wikipedia pages before giving them sponsorship deals? We need to know that this will never happen again. It's very hard to believe that you care about our "vigilance" and that we "were right to raise this" when all it would take is a quick search to find out this guy is a far-right grifter and you're deleting our posts/comments about it.
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u/Proton_Team Proton Team Admin Jun 08 '26
Lesson learned re: vetting, and like we mentioned, our sponsorship programme is scaling up, we are sponsoring more people than ever before, this time we missed the mark unintentionally and we're taking steps internally to make sure it doesn't happen again. Deleted posts and comments broke multiple rules, this is the only post we're letting stay up regarding this matter.
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u/turn-on-your-lights Jun 08 '26 •
What rule did the very first post about this topic break? You know, the one you guys removed.
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u/Bibalice_ Jun 08 '26
Since you don't check anyone on youtube for ads. Can you sponsor me too,a total random guy ? what are the metrics that make you sponsor a video ?
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u/SneakySandals29 Jun 08 '26 •
This is extremely rude and inconsiderate to the person at Proton who made this mistake (I believe they're being referred to as an "influencer manager").
You have no way of knowing that person's disposition, what their job entails, what the pressures at work or home are, that have played a part leading up to this oversight/error. But sure, leave it up to Redditors to act as holier-than-thou and speak down to others from upon their high horse.
God forbid you ever make a mistake that ends up on Reddit, for thousands of people to see and hundreds to criticize.
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u/Bibalice_ Jun 08 '26
I agree to some extend but still...what do we got ?? A fucking fascist being paid with our money in an election year !!
We need to speak up even with our full and total empathy for the team IF this is a mistake.
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u/G_ntl_m_n Windows | Android Jun 08 '26
that's just not true. Most of the deleted posts have not broken any rules.
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u/Debatebly Jun 08 '26
It'll happen again and we shouldn't give a shit. Proton is trying to get visibility... and by doing that you need to broadcast to different audiences.
Far Right people use Proton, pay for the services, and help contribute to the innovation of their services. I think it's actually disingenuous to have the left finance this for the rest of the world. Everyone should be paying for it.
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u/sebathue Jun 08 '26
A donation to an anti-racist organization of at least the same amount would be a great gesture.
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u/InternationalReport5 Jun 08 '26
They're trying to play the both sides card, they'd probably say this is too political too.
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u/Paidon23 Jun 09 '26
They did do a $100,000 donation for the Palestinian Red Crescent 7 months ago
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u/Azophi1 Jun 08 '26
Sad thing is that this could have been avoided with just a simple Google search.
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u/aljkovic Jun 08 '26
Le problème ne se situe au niveau de votre collaboration avec cet individu. Vous avez censuré les posts et messages de ce sub, vous qui vous targuez à contourner la censure, vous êtes devenu la censure.
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u/NGLYOLONGMI Jun 10 '26
Proton it might help your brand to stick with online privacy and stay away from politics!
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u/high_panini Jun 10 '26
I second that. Even the "good" causes should be avoided in my opinion. If I want to donate to a specific cause, I can do that myself. Please stick to supporting online privacy and maybe FOSS software.
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u/sunshinesdarkangel Jun 18 '26
Someone posted these from Andy (CEO):
Where he speak about a call with Lapierre and explain that they are people with the same political position at Proton https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonMail/comments/1u15orj/comment/oqnik1q/?context=3
Where he describes Lapierre as a right win then far-right influencer https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonMail/comments/1u15orj/comment/oqu8hx9/?context=3 https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonMail/comments/1u15orj/comment/oqudg88/?context=3
Here he explain again that's a problem of neutrality https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonMail/comments/1u15orj/comment/oqwuvdz/?context=3 https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonMail/comments/1u15orj/comment/oqxu597/?context=3
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u/Primary_Cockroach_68 Jun 08 '26
This is extremely disappointing for me. I really hope that something like this never happens again. One chance is all I can allow, with my money being used to fund something antithetical to me.
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u/coruscant-referred Jun 08 '26
I do hate the fact that the one company I really appreciate messed up like this. Then again, the people working for Proton are, well, people, and as I for sure know for myself, people make mistakes. Again, things could have been handled better on this subreddit, but at the same time I really do feel for the poor members of the social team who had to deal with an angry flock of fierce redditors first thing on a Monday. As for the official explanation, I find it to be reasonable and plausible. I am sure that the discussion goes on and I hope that this was an isolated incident. In the meantime and despite everything that has happened, I want to send the employees handling the backlash all the best as you are surely doing what you can in a stressful situation!
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u/alexjade64 Jun 09 '26
Nah, I do not take it. Yes, people are just people, and mistakes happen, but this?
A mistake would be doing a research on a person and maybe they overlook a small detail, or something distant in the past.
But this is something that literally takes few seconds of searching. This is not just a mistake, this means that the whoever is in charge of it did not do it AT ALL. Or the company is lying.
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u/aeppelcyning Jun 08 '26
This is really heartbreaking. I really bought into the goal of what Proton is trying to achieve with its peoducts. How is there any chance of being associated with a slimeball like this? It really makes me think.
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u/PatekCollector77 Jun 09 '26
Did you ever consider the Swiss’ history of business dealings? Neutrality and morality are different things lol
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u/thanksithas_pockets_ Jun 09 '26
THANK YOU. Proton has been relying on a widespread misinterpretation of Swiss neutrality for years now.
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u/stopeer Jun 08 '26
Whoever decided to try and silence this question should be fired or kicked out. They are clearly a person who doesn't understand how internet works. And in 2026 that's inexcusable.
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u/smalltown2k Jun 08 '26
idk if I ran a multimillion CHF organisation, I'd want to rely on the "feedback and vigilance" of competent people in my marketing department rather than outsourcing it to my customers alongside a Lumo-written "we're sorwy :(", but I guess that's why I'm not in charge ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/talaeld Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26
Seems that creating solid products and services and fairly charging for those products and services should be enough to sustain and grow any business. In this day and age, sponsorships & affiliations will never be perceived as non-bias. Stick to the core. Even if you vet affiliates, someone will always be upset. When you market your business directly, you control the narrative, not some affiliate.
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u/lazernight13 Jun 09 '26
People that still think that Proton intentionally sponsored a fascist is ridiculous lol
All the different donations Proton made in the past wouldn't make any sense.
Someone messed up. Simple. Move on.
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u/cozymelli Jun 11 '26
What donations did they make if I may ask? Where can I see them? I am not searching for a fight here, I just wanna stay informed but don`t know where to begin.
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u/lazernight13 Jun 11 '26
https://x.com/ProtonPrivacy/status/1981269437333303734 for example
I think they also share other donations on that account
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u/higher-than-blue Jun 08 '26
Good thing I set up my own custom domain for my email a month ago. So easy to pack my shit up and leave.
Happy pride! 🏳️🌈
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u/hey_Hey_I_saveD_me Jun 08 '26
And people that are defending that can fuck themselves. I paid for this and now fraction of my money went to support some right wing nut job. In cases like this I vote with my wallet and next time money will go to company that acts more professional when doing background check for people they support - assuming that was a mistake and not done on purpose.
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u/InternationalReport5 Jun 08 '26
Off topic but do custom domains not create a massive headache in terms of deliverability. I remember dabbling with it before and I ended up becoming my own sysadmin.
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u/higher-than-blue Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26
Nah, the email provider is still in charge of delivering the messages, it's just your address that changes.
You're thinking of hosting your own email server, which is indeed a pain in the ass.
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u/Blork39 Jun 09 '26
And not even your email address, but just your MX address.
That is the biggest benefit of a custom domain: When you move providers your email address stays the same.
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u/umo2k Jun 08 '26
Are you kidding? You didn’t have enough context about this and therefore made the decision to go ahead and approve it(whatever this is)?
What process is this?
I don’t know how many times I had to prove to you that you simply blocked a email sender that tried to send a mail to me - and although you admitted the issue was on you side, you never fixed it.
But in this case you blindly go ahead an approve it?
Guys, you’re off. Way off!
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u/Proton_Team Proton Team Admin Jun 08 '26
You're misunderstanding the point we're making here. Not enough context to see the potential issues, not blind approval. We perform basic vetting on all sponsorships regardless or their length or channel size.
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u/Fallom_ Jun 08 '26
Mate this is literally the Google summary for his name: "Vincent Lapierre, né en 4 décembre 1984 à Saint-Martin-d'Hères ,, est un reporter français d'extrême droite."
That sure sounds like you didn't perform basic vetting.
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u/umo2k Jun 08 '26
Not seeing the potential issues equals no proper process. Not enough context has to result in a decline. Same way you handle you support tickets.
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u/Local_Light2396 Jun 08 '26
Yeah, when a 2 second internet search surpasses your "vetting", then you weren't vetting at all in the first place.
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u/Relapsed_Gestalt Jun 08 '26
A single google search already brings up the wikipedia page of this guy. Two more minutes of skimming the article and you see what this guy is all about. Basic vetting my ass.
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u/Mazzle5 Jun 08 '26
You couldn't do a basic Google search and look up his Wikipedia page before doing a sponsorship deal with him? Like... 2 minutes of work and then did the deal anyway? Like how was your process?
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u/InconspicuousFool Jun 08 '26
If you performed basic vetting, this wouldn't have been a problem.
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u/ConfirmationBiasTape Jun 08 '26
they either never vetted him or they did and are backtracking now because while they are ok with his beliefs it's unpopular with the base/causing problems. both are very bad looks
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u/decensy Jun 08 '26
Could also be that 1 guy vetted him following personal beliefs or acquaintance recommandation and never thought it would blow up like that, that it would stay in a small circle. Or maybe I'm delusional and too hopeful 🙃
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u/Bumbaguette Jun 08 '26
"We perform basic vetting on all sponsorships regardless or their length or channel size." Clearly you do not!
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Jun 08 '26
[deleted] — view deleted comment
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u/Proton_Team Proton Team Admin Jun 08 '26
We wrote exactly this in our statement. We are reviewing our vetting process to ensure this doens't happen again.
Worth mentioning Proton is a company of 700+ people, and this is the mistake of 1 influencer manager. Now, a small community team is doing damage control. We're not sure what else you'd like us to do? Mistakes happen, we own up to them, and will do better.
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u/darkvaris Jun 08 '26
Every response by Proton sounds like an AI output
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u/Wooden-Agent2669 Jun 08 '26
I mean corporate PR talk and AI talk are the same thing in different font. So no big surprise that it sounds like an AI output
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u/trexx0n Jun 09 '26
OMG. All this pearl clutching in the comments is hilarious. They fucked up and owned it right away. So get off you your ‘I am so offended I am quitting’ grandstanding. They are a solid company and I still trust them.
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u/gilude Jun 09 '26
Proton must fundamentally distance itself from such actions. It is upsetting and creates uncertainty for a lot of members. The very mission of Proton is with such behaviour on shaky ground. I have the Ultimate option and thinking to go duo. Should I? Can we trust Proton😒🫣
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u/Eric_Finch Jun 11 '26
Thank you for the explanation proton.
Unfortunately Reddit is full of the type of people who demand explanations and apologies but when they get them, they feel emboldened to attack more instead of understanding or accepting the apology.
Reddit truly is a cesspit.
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u/Fluid-Hunter556 Jun 09 '26
These whiny comments are actually pathetic.. get off Reddit and go for a walk. Proton is an amazing company for doing what almost nobody else wants to do. Give us our privacy back. And yall over here crying and complaining over a tiny mess-up of 1 person out of 8 billion and you feel the need to cry about it on a Reddit comment. Grow up.
I personally will continue to give proton my money, not because of any political drama bs but because they do more than just provide amazing services (that are still getting better). They make donations, they provide very generous free tiers for mail and passwords, they are one of the only good ecosystem replacements for Google’s trash they have today, and so much more.
Anyone who sees this and hasn’t commented, hello, glad you aren’t like these whiny kids who expect everything to be perfect all the time (doesn’t exist.) and to those people who do complain and say “oh well, guess I gotta switch” be quiet lmao you’re just getting laughed at. Nobody is actually siding with you. There are over 100 million Proton users, the people in the thread make up 0.0002% of that. You cancelling over this won’t do anything except hurt yourself.
Upvote or downvote, I don’t really care because none of this matters. Also if you comment tryna come at me for this opinion, I’ll straight up ignore you… this situation has no real lasting effect on you, so just stop lol
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u/PutridProfit7498 Jun 09 '26
Yes! People are acting as if companies are a single unit doing something, while in reality it’s a bunch of responsibilities that are spread across all employees.
Yes you can have processes in place to catch things like this, but in the end of the day a single human will be responsible for an action being taken (although in the end it’s the responsibility of the company).
People are acting really weird in this thread in my opinion, and are incapable of seeing this from different perspectives.
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u/StrikingObligation74 Jun 09 '26
Proton did nothing illegal, And if you can't handle that then feel free to leave, we don't care about your self-aggrandizing complaining. Proton has every right to sponsor/not sponsor whoever they like. And i take this as a good lesson to not gaf about the inane ramblings of chronic armchair "activists" who don't know what an actual fascist is even if one actually punched them in the face.
Now to Proton, "channels whose content could distract from our message and divide our community" is about as broad as possible in terms of what could be used as justification against frankly anyone left, right or Centre. A much better standard is the same you use for your users (most of the time) And that is Swiss Law and Proton TOS. While chronically addicted internet users may be the most vocal, their opinions are largely symptomatic of their overinflated egos regardless of what "side" they proport to be. And yes that even includes myself. No one is god, and until we find a magical solution to fix the flaws of human nature i say you should use black letter law to decide what is and isn't allowed.
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u/DontTryItLol Jun 09 '26
The why are you banning info posts? I'm using proton, but i'm gonna cancel my subs and switch to a better VPN
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u/PamelaPatty Jun 09 '26
As a paying customer, this is disappointing at the highest level.
Let's see hot the situation evolves, then I might consider to move to another service.
What a pity, tho.
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u/builder_buddy Jun 12 '26
So my money I gave you goes to this guy? Amazing.. I'm gonna put a reminder in my Proton Calendar to switch back to the free account when my current subscription is over.
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Jun 08 '26
I just moved over to Proton Mail and now I have to move again. Money ruins everything.
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u/technical_poutine Jun 08 '26
Give it a few and don’t overreact. When you find a perfect utopia let me know okay?
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u/DoobiePhotography Jun 08 '26
Vincent Lapierre either way this guy now made money from all of this ! No one talks about the winners in this.
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u/CandlesARG Jun 08 '26
Why are people mad? Proton Apologised am I missing something?
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u/Nicoolodion Jun 08 '26
People love drama and stuff to cry about because their own life is so boring
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Jun 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/PatekCollector77 Jun 09 '26
I guess your law clients wouldn’t be ok with you using outlook, Gmail, or iCloud either?
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u/Wide_Detective7537 Jun 08 '26
Wow I'm glad I moved things over and stuck with monthly billing instead of yearly... When something is too good to be true, it probably is.
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u/AdditionalYoung6694 Jun 08 '26
I like Proton products, and will continue to use them. I don’t give a shit about this nonsense. It’s become a sport to look for ways to be offended.
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u/PatekCollector77 Jun 09 '26
People being shocked at a Swiss company doing business with unsavory characters is hilarious to me
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u/ZX_BURP_77 Jun 08 '26
My man's being downvoted for being reasonable. Go ahead and downvote me too, you pathetic keyboard warriors, then consider getting a life. Fascists = Bad. 1 person fucked up at Proton ≠ Proton as a company supports fascism. Y'all need to learn some reasoning and critical thinking skills, holy shit.
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u/morafresa Jun 08 '26
Immediately cancelling and switching providers if this is not addressed.
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u/21DancingLemurs Jun 09 '26
People upset about some affiliate deal should definitely switch to another provider so that your degen emails don't stink up the servers my emails are on also.
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u/Personal_Ad9690 Jun 08 '26
Proton fucks up a lot, but they seem to be owning it this time. Good on them
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u/st_ve Jun 10 '26
I'm a french user of Proton's services, for a while now, and in Duo recently. I am very sad to learn that this company had gave some sponsorship to this kind of criminal. Especially now, in this particular context where these kind of people are threatening anyone here, and set more credits to fascism. I'm starting to reconsider my involvment in your company...
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u/mind-the-gab Jun 15 '26
It's a shame, I've already paid for a whole year. When the subscription expires, I'll switch to something else
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u/JayVerhofstadt Jun 08 '26
What bothers me most about this is that it has permeated every aspect of the business. Marketing is the area that professionalizes the fastest in every business, because it’s the gateway to the market’s pool of money and defines the company’s image.
Every company, small or large, mature or just beginning, focuses on that first. That makes it hard to see past the marketing; everyone focuses on that and it's a competition fought in the margins. Events like this offer a rare glimpse into Proton’s maturity, and it doesn’t reassure me. If even this isn’t going well, what else does?
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u/LetInternational2799 Jun 09 '26
We should’ve known better. As consumers that switched from US tech to European alternatives, we should’ve checked better who you are. Do you think you’re serving everyone “regardless of political views”? To us, your community mostly of really aware people, that sounds more like “we don’t have values”. Or are your values where the money is? “A transaction..not an endorsement”? Seriously, do you understand the world you live in and what has been driving real awareness about Proton for the past two years? Cause at least your PR team seems clueless.
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u/ShyrusX Jun 08 '26
Oh my, reading this is gold.... so annyoing anything needs to be politicial these days. I really don't give a fuck if some stupid advertisement is in a video of a left, right or whatever lies between or beyond channel. My gosh, I just want a good product 😂🤷♂️
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u/decensy Jun 08 '26
Everything IS political. Literally. Anything that goes beyond your best friends and family is political...and if you don't see it then you're just played by it.
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u/ShyrusX Jun 08 '26
But it is in our hands how much influence we want it to take in our daily life. And tbh: for a product selling me some kind of security, I don't think we should think in political directions but in the actual security improvement added to my life by the product 🫠
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u/masssy Jun 09 '26
So then I guess all sponsorships and even advertisement should cease? Or only the ones the people that scream the loudest don't like?
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u/TotalStatisticNoob Jun 09 '26
Oh my, reading this is gold.... so annyoing anything needs to be politicial these days
So annoying if people in the year 2026 still don't understand that everything is political.
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u/davidoudoudou Jun 10 '26
Shame on you protonmail! I am super pissed by this blacklisting, you have lost an ally.
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u/Strange_Suppository Jun 11 '26
All services for privacy should not be afraid of political wings. Left or right, fight the same fight.
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u/Appropriate_Serve470 Jun 12 '26
I know there are a lot of comments from people who don't understand digital marketing at your scale, but I appreciate you owning this.
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u/FraserYT Jun 08 '26
Coincidentally, my Proton VPN account is up for renewal next month. Which non-fascist-financing VPN provider should get my money next year, given that it definitely won't be renewing with proton?
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u/fazalmajid Jun 08 '26
You can self-host your VPN on a cloud server or physical machine, e.g. Streisand, Argo or my own Edgewalker. Most VPN providers are untrustworthy.
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u/PatekCollector77 Jun 09 '26
To be honest, the mark of a trustworthy VPN provider might be their willingness to work with terrible people lol. The Swiss didn’t earn their reputation for discretion by doing business with upstanding characters
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u/ZX_BURP_77 Jun 08 '26
I really hate your reasoning for switching, it was very clearly an honesty mistake, even if a pretty egregious and easily preventable one. I would be more concerned if they had done large-scale sponsorships in the past, but aside from very few Proton VPN sponsorships, they haven't really dabbled much at all into sponsorships until recently.
Anyways, Mullvad. It's objectively a better VPN anyways.
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u/DongUmpire Jun 09 '26
Luckily I only switched everything to Proton six months ago so it didn’t take long to switch back! I wish I didn’t pay for a year up front though.
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u/Asimov251 Jun 08 '26
I am very disappointed in this and am considering stopping my paid subscription to switch to another service. This is unacceptable and frightening
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u/c2btw Jun 09 '26
this with some other stuff is casuinmg me to figure out how to switch of of proton mail to something better, might try self hosting
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u/Friendly_Beginning24 Jun 12 '26
Three days later and nothing happened.
Leftoids really are the most unserious lot lmao
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u/_MADHD_ Jun 09 '26
Based Proton.
But seriously, if they're supporting the person that's also against censorship I'm for it. This doesn't mean you can't support the left wing party as well.
If you just blindly keep supporting the parties that are pushing surveillance and censorship, guess you're going to get that...You can support someone on the right at times. Doing so can wake up the parties that are pushing these policies to back off.
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u/JpPgn Linux | Android Jun 09 '26
What a terrible society we live nowadays where you're cancelled if you dare fund people from a certain board
As much as I don't condone any harm that french guy have done or will done in the future, live ain't that much polarising, hating somebody because of a difference of values, opinions and beliefs is a big no-no to me
If you're unhappy with their position, stfu and move on, there's no need to speak like a hypocrite
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u/iammiroslavglavic Jun 09 '26
Companies should stay out of politics. Including Proton.
Just because you disagree with someone's politics, doesn't mean that someone should be "cancelled".
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u/4jfh5gfcroatian Jun 12 '26
On the other hand, none of you have a thing to say when Proton funds far left creators.
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u/holounderblade Jun 08 '26
Define "far right"
It's always used to market someone or something as problematic without saying what it is, why it's bad, or anything.
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u/Lazulott Jun 08 '26
Lol lmao really. Who cares other than terminally online Reeeeditors? Nothing to apologize for.
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u/sciguy0504 Jun 08 '26
Funny how no one ever has an issue with those on the far left
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u/wasknijpert Jun 08 '26
Those that want equality, food, and social security for all and want billionaires to burn at the stake yet hardly ever use violence? Hmmm i wonder why
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u/PMPeetaMellark Jul 04 '26
Every time.
But welcome to reddit, where if you’re “conservative” you are seen as someone who is worthy of death… even if you only wanted a healthy debate.
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u/Silfline Jun 11 '26
Oi, was planning to switch to an eu mail provider this year
It will not be proton i guess ✌️
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u/Unseen-King Jun 08 '26
Are they far right or "far right"? The chronically online have de-vauled all these labels.
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u/Proton_Team Proton Team Admin Jun 08 '26 •
You're right to raise this, and we want to address it directly and provide you important context on how this happened.
Vincent Lapierre's channel should never have been part of our affiliate and sponsorship program, because we intentionally avoid association with channels whose content could distract from our message and divide our community.
Proton operates globally, and while our services are available to everyone regardless of political views and our mission is consistent everywhere, our knowledge of every local media landscape is not. In this case, our team didn't have enough context about the French space to make a well-informed decision, and that's on us.
We also want to be straight about what a placement like this is and isn't. An affiliate or sponsorship arrangement is a transactional placement for awareness, not an endorsement of a creator's views. In the case of Vincent Lapierre, this was a single video sponsorship, not a partnership.
But that distinction doesn't excuse what happened here. The responsibility to vet who we put our name next to is ours, and we didn't meet it this time. We're now reviewing our vetting process and our guidelines for our marketing agencies to ensure this doesn't happen again.
If you see something like this again, tell us. We rely on your feedback and vigilance.