Proton Mail Says It’s “Politically Neutral” While Praising Republican Party
theintercept.com
The “privacy-first” company surprised its user base when CEO Andy Yen lauded Trump on social media.

Summary

Proton Mail, known for its privacy-first email services, faced backlash after CEO Andy Yen praised the Republican Party and its antitrust stance.

The company initially posted and deleted a statement supporting Yen’s comments, later claiming an “internal miscommunication” and reiterating its political neutrality.

Critics question Proton’s impartiality, particularly as it cooperates with Swiss authorities on legal data requests.

Privacy advocates warn that political alignments could undermine trust, especially for Proton’s users—journalists and activists wary of government surveillance under administrations like Trump’s.

  • sudneo@lemm.ee
    22·
    1 day ago

    the Republicans are now the party of the small people

    He didn’t. He clearly meant small tech in that context, opposed to big tech\monopolies. Not only this is the only interpretation that makes sense, but he said this himself in a clarifying (personal) reddit comment.

    • Croquette@sh.itjust.works
      1·
      17 hours ago

      Stop bootlicking

      From Andy Yen directly:

      “[…]10 years ago, Republicans were the party of big business and Dems stood for the little guys, but today, the tables have completely turned.”

      There is no place for interpretation here, the message is clear. If he wants to back pedal because he got slinged shit, so be it, but it doesn’t detract from the fact that he said that the Republicans are now the party of the small guys.

      Stop spreading misinformation

      • sudneo@lemm.ee
        11·
        16 hours ago

        https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonMail/comments/1i2nz9v/on_politics_and_proton_a_message_from_andy/m7hfhdh/

        I will quote his own words:

        Unfortunately that was misinterpreted. If you go back to the original tweet in question, it is clear from the context that that is about “little tech” vs "big tech

        I know we are in the internet in 2025, and nobody has the right to clarify their opinion anymore, one strike and you are out, but still.

        To me it was obvious from the context to be honest, without even needing his own explanation (that you call backpedaling because good faith is never assumed). But then again, I was not looking for reasons to be outraged.

        It’s hilarious though that reporting the authors own thoughts you call misinformation. Instead drawing your own conclusions that are explicitly denied by that person is supposedly objective. If there are no more rules of logic then everything goes.

        Also this is not bootlicking, it’s just a timid defense of rationality in the face of people building castles in the air.

        • Croquette@sh.itjust.works
          21·
          11 hours ago

          Yeah because cozying up buddy buddy with Trump is a castle in the air.

          It’s not like the guy was cooked on the spot and spouted an incohenrent sentence.

          The guy took the time to tag Donald Trump to show him how he’s not like the other girls , wrote out his message and thought that this was good enough to press send.

          There is a lot of deliberate actions that leads to this and takebacksies are a lot more difficult to justify.

          In that case, there is a little space for interpretation and Andy Yen is clearly in damage control.

          It is not little joe from Arkansas owning a potato farm tweeting that shit, it’s the CEO of a supposedly “neutral” company, that deals in privacy, tagging his buddy Trump. Shit like that can’t get a pass.

          Lucky for him, there are enlightened people like you that loves the smell of fresh polish directly from the boot.

          • sudneo@lemm.ee
            11·
            7 hours ago

            Oh no, he tagged trump (did he? Or did he reply to the tweet in which trump announced the antitrust pick?). This 1 second action changes everything. I am glad we have already moved the goalpost. Why tagging trump would change the context of his message it’s really a mystery to me.

            Look, for me it’s simple. He has expressed himself in a way that was easy to misinterpret. He clarified his thoughts, I judge him for his thoughts.

            You want to judge him for what you think he meant? By no means, go ahead. Just don’t pretend it’s a fact, because it’s literally an opinion. A legitimate one, but still an opinion. The fact is that he said something and clarified that he meant something. Whether he is sincere or not is an opinion, but it doesn’t change the fact.

            For the rest I don’t care to convince you or anybody else, I don’t care of Andy Yen either. What I do care is people damaging one of the very few tech companies out there that are positive exceptions to a shitty industry. I think this is way worse than a tweet - even if it praised republicans in a general sense.

            Besides this, I also hate this aesthetic of purity. MacCartysm in modern sauce.

            • Croquette@sh.itjust.works
              1·
              2 hours ago

              He has expressed himself in a way that was easy to misinterpret

              Absolutely not. There wasn’t a nuance hard to grasp in Andy Yen’s message. It is a pretty straightforward message.

              Look if you want to continue using the service, by all means do, but stop acting like other people telling Proton and Andy Yen to get fucked that they are exaggerating.

              Corporations are fucking us over and being outright evil, and when one of their CEO comes out and spout absolute dogshit takes, people like you come out of the woodwork to tell people that it’s fine and people are overreacting. You gain nothing from sucking up to millionaire CEOs that don’t give two shit about you.

              What’s the saying, “When someone shows you who they are, trust them the first time”?

              Andy Yen showed us who he was and lots of people told him to get fucked.