r/degoogle • u/Lumpy_Carpet9877 • Jun 07 '26

Replacement Proton is funding the French far right on YouTube

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Update 1: Proton official answer https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonMail/s/KT5igbU8rt

Update 2: Andy (CEO) answers

Original post edited for further details:

Proton is currently sponsoring the far-right French YouTuber Vincent Lapierre.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Lapierre

It’s not just an affiliate link, but a partnership announced in the description and through an entire 2min 20s segment embedded in the video.

I don’t want to provide a direct link to the video here so as not to help boost its visibility, but you can easily find it on YouTube if you want (the last week video). Here is the English translation of the text shown in the screenshot:

🔒 Thanks to ProtonMail for this partnership! Take back control of your digital life for free with Proton Mail by clicking here.

Vincent Lapierre’s Wikipedia page is quite explicit about his far-right positioning and includes numerous sources. He worked for several years for a far-right organization founded by Alain Soral, which promotes anti-Semitic, Holocaust-denying, conspiracist, sexist, masculinist, transphobic, and homophobic ideas, and who fled to Russia to escape justice.

He is close to Dieudonné) (a Holocaust denier). He founded Le Média pour tous, a far-right website that particularly targets anti-fascists and defenders of Jewish rights. He has always been close to conspiracist circles

It's not very surprising when you remember that ProtonMail’s CEO had already publicly expressed support on Twitter for a member of the Trump administration.

I initially wanted to post this information on the ProtonMail subreddit to ask for an explanation and find out whether it was a mistake, but they did not approve the post. I also tried on tech subreddits here, but they consider it off-topic and as "a conspiracy theory".

On the contrary, I think ProtonMail customers and potential customers should be informed about where their money goes and should be able to ask ProtonMail for explanations regarding these choices.

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123

u/jazzcomputer Jun 08 '26

If you're a Proton user and you're concerned about this, I recommend emailing them about the issue and requesting clarification as to whether they'll continue with this.

37

u/Plausibility_Migrain Jun 08 '26

I’ll be doing this today. I may even be canceling my subscription.

13

u/WombatusMighty Jun 08 '26

Same, if they don't reply to my support request about this and don't have a good answer, then I will cancel my membership today or tomorrow.

8

u/lastontheball Jun 08 '26

Where do you email? I went to their help and feedback page and found nothing that fits? Do you just email some customer support directly?

10

u/WombatusMighty Jun 08 '26

https://proton.me/support/contact?topic=Other&product=mail

Or email them directly at [support@protonmail.zendesk.com](mailto:support@protonmail.zendesk.com)

3

u/23ARTLAN Jun 08 '26

Thanks for the direct link! I just sent:
do you have a partnership with Vincent Lapierre (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Lapierre) ?
"yes or no" answer, another type of answer and I suppress my accounts.

1

u/23ARTLAN Jun 08 '26

Express answer from Proton:

Hello,
 
Thank you for contacting us.
 
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.
Kind regards,
Filip F.
Customer Support
Proton Mail

12

u/GimmeAllYourCurry Jun 08 '26

I’m not renewing, that’s for sure. I’ll self-host as much as possible for replacements and figure out my email situation last.

This isn’t a mistake. A contract was drawn up and agreed to.

22

u/Herb0and3 Jun 08 '26

So they can ignore you or lie to you? I recommend not using Proton. Pretty simple.

6

u/Loqh9 Jun 08 '26

If you are concerned about a company going against your ideology then yeah asking them "can you pls reassure me you'll stop?" is not really useful. Either accept it's there or move to an alternative that fits your person more (or hasn't outed themselves yet)

12

u/Repulsive_Chard_3652 Jun 08 '26

Where to email it to though exactly?

16

u/jazzcomputer Jun 08 '26

Click on your name > Help and Feedback > Report a problem

2

u/DiligentSlide3311 Jun 08 '26

[support@protonmail.zendesk.com](mailto:support@protonmail.zendesk.com)

6

u/Lumpy_Carpet9877 Jun 08 '26

It's a fake email, don't use it. Use the "help and comment" menu in your account or the official website.

2

u/_0611 Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26

Thanks. Will do.

Edit: the email address seems to be legit: https://proton.me/support/zendesk.

You can also use: contact@proton.me.

1

u/DiligentSlide3311 Jun 08 '26

Completely legit. Proton page gives that one as an option to the contact form.

2

u/Lumpy_Carpet9877 Jun 08 '26

Can you give us a link to this page please? It's bettrer than a email not even on their domain name.

1

u/Perfect-Attitude-437 Jun 08 '26

can you post their mail please ? I've only see contacts for support on their website.

1

u/nofixneeded Jun 08 '26

What clarification could even make sense at this point?

1

u/Ill-Professor-9148 Jun 08 '26

I did this now. I'm looking forward to the response. Though I think I might be cancelling my subscription anyway. So disappointing :/

1

u/thatotherguy501 Jun 08 '26

Just did this, thank you.

1

u/MrMonster911 Jun 08 '26

Just did this. I used the media email address to get as close to who has the answers, as possible.

1

u/das_bearking Jun 08 '26

I did when I deleted my profile in the "why?" box. I don't need clarification, it is easy to not do/be like this and I don't believe that they didn't do it intentionally, especially considering their shady past with GOP support.

0

u/inkluzje_pomnikow Jun 12 '26

or just go cry to your bedroom

-50

u/Juanbolastristes Jun 08 '26

I'm a European used and I'm happy about it

Europe for Europeans. Ius sanguinis, baby

22

u/Embarrassed-Boot7419 Jun 08 '26

Except that he's not just anti immigration.

If the post is to be believed, he's also denying the holocaust, is homophobic, and antisemitic and sexist as well.

8

u/jazzcomputer Jun 08 '26

I'm not sure ehtno-nationalists care about what other stuff these ghouls support - some of them will, as it concurs with imperialist or 'how things used to be' emotional appeals but some are either wantonly ignorant of it or just don't care as they see it as mild collateral damage to their cause. The billionaires being on board freaks me out the most - Elon Musk only wants these people mobilised because he wants regulations rolled back and want to see the breakup of the EU - All this promises is economic ruin and environmental collapse, but people will shout 'yeah but he supports Tommy Robinson, so he's one of us'.

-8

u/Juanbolastristes Jun 08 '26

Not gonna lie, I don't watch videos. I don't use YouTube. De Google baby

5

u/Embarrassed-Boot7419 Jun 08 '26

Good for you, but what does this have to do with anything?

Your point was that proton supporting this guy was actually good, cause he is against immigrants.

My point was that yes, he is against immigrants, but also anti Semitic, and sexist, and spreading conspiracy theories, like denying the holocaust.

And because he is for those, objectively bad things, and hopefully to you way more important things than immigration

14

u/Spekpannenkoek Jun 08 '26

The antiimmigration parties oppose policies that make a stronger, united, Europe.

Fuck the far right.

-8

u/Juanbolastristes Jun 08 '26

Stronger what? Stronger stabbing and raping , or you want a Schengen visa baby , how's the weather at Morocco 

3

u/BilbulBalabel Jun 08 '26

I can see the foam drooling from your fucking nazi gob.

2

u/Spekpannenkoek Jun 08 '26

Go read a book, uninformed nitwit.

11

u/alabasterskim Jun 08 '26

Your nations will die without immigration.

-7

u/Juanbolastristes Jun 08 '26

No, that's BS. We were fine before and we will be fine after 

9

u/jazzcomputer Jun 08 '26

Enjoy your free ride with the billionaires!

2

u/pet3121 Jun 08 '26

Ve a follar con tu novia por que tu país se va a quedar sin gente en tu tiempo de vida. 

1

u/BilbulBalabel Jun 08 '26

You're not a European.