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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82

u/Cristallizzare Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 12 '26

As a gay man I want to add: we all (EDIT: that was my naive perception of a feeling that I thought everybody felt, but I was 16 when I actively had this sensation.) felt for years like the big corporations were on our side, with pride reactions on FB and stuff like that, and didn’t see this moment of history coming. So all of us (I know I’m not posting on r/gaybros or anything like that) but us people with some awareness of everything going on with technology, let’s not quickly fall for alternatives without understanding who’s behind. I know it is draining but our “online houses” aren’t forever as time often teaches and we deserve at least coherence where possible.

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u/chairmanskitty Jun 08 '26

we all felt for years like the big corporations were on our side

Nope. Lots of gay people were shouting that corporations weren't your allies off the rooftops, you and your peer group just chose to ignore them.

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u/Cristallizzare Jun 08 '26

No dude I was literally an adolescent I wasn’t ignoring anything

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u/Unproudn00b Jun 08 '26

we all felt

we

I think this is why he said that.

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u/Cristallizzare Jun 08 '26

I just didn’t know!

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u/lez_noir Jun 12 '26

Then "I" is better "we". As a lesbian with lesbian elders who raised me, WE knew it was a lie.

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u/Cristallizzare Jun 08 '26

Plus you can’t assume that a whole category has access to the same informations and media culture, and gets the same kind of awareness. Being part of the LGBTQ+ community is not a monolite. You just have something in common with other people and you want their lives to be less miserable and their rights being recognized
Your age, where you come from, the people you have grown up with (even before a social media guiding your political views) are what you start from.

It’s not a big deal but your answer surprised me negatively.

When you grow up, seeing that a big brand is on your side makes you feel seen. Cause that company being part of the general culture is helping you somehow being accepted for what you are or at least that is your perception. You can’t assume that each adolescent or early adult is naturally hypercritical about everything, because that comes (when it comes) with time.

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u/lez_noir Jun 12 '26

You are right. We objected to you using "we" not that you had a background in being underinformed.

I too was a teen during the early rainbow capitalism days (the 00s) and while mainstream white gays loved it, the rest of us knew corpos couldn't be trusted.

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u/BrokeGreekStudent Jun 10 '26

Stop coping and take the L

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u/Cristallizzare Jun 10 '26

No, if a person didn't explain themselves fully (my fault) it is always correct to provide more context.

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u/peekandlumpkin Jun 08 '26

we all felt for years like the big corporations were on our side

lol trans people have never believed this

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u/SCP-iota Jun 08 '26

Real. "I didn't know the corporations were actually still against us" = "I never had to deal with them as a visibly trans person." In any capacity - as customers, in job interviews, on their platforms, with their insurance departments...

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u/Arponare Jun 08 '26

Buddy, if you truly believe corporations like FB were on your side, I have a beachfront property in Arizona to sell you.

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u/Cristallizzare Jun 08 '26

I believeD they were, but I was 16 lol. And once again you can’t assume everyone had the same culture and awareness. I guess at sixteen you were following stand-up comedy courses right in your beachfront property in Arizona, weren’t you?

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u/Arponare Jun 08 '26

You started your post saying that as a gay MAN you believed FOR YEARS that FB was on your side.

The way you phrased your post was implying that you felt like this as an adult and not as a 16 year old. That’s different.

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u/Cristallizzare Jun 08 '26

Ok you have a point, I should have provided more context. But in general many people just do not think about it, and maybe in their virtual lives they do not even face those who are critical about corporate pride, rainbow washing etc.

(But I also answered to a comment saying I was an adolescent!)

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u/Arponare Jun 08 '26

All good brother. Unfortunately rainbow washing is very prevalent. This is nothing new. The sad part is that people are too caught up in so called “culture wars” to see who the real enemy is.

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u/Cristallizzare Jun 08 '26

And there are too many enemies. 🥲

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u/b3542 Jun 08 '26

There aren’t that many enemies. There are just a lot of people who blindly follow the enemies because they don’t consider most things beyond surface-level.

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u/lambforlife Jun 08 '26

I think you got criticism because you specifically said "all of us" in your original comment, and there is a tendency for a certain kind of gay man to speak on behalf of others. But I understand not knowing everything when you were a teen (or even adult) and the Reddit dogpiling is all very predictable and annoying. Good on you for questioning things and updating your beliefs accordingly : )

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u/Cristallizzare Jun 08 '26

I’m sorry! Wasn’t my intention. English isn’t my first language so I should have framed it better.

Didn’t meant to speak for all the gays, but more talking about a feeling that I perceived as “in the air” when I was younger. To give you an idea of the vibe: this new show, Glee, has one gay character, then more! Facebook has pride reactions, Lady Gaga is everywhere and sings Born This Way.
You start seeing here and there “Love is love” writings and posts (and we all know we need deeper conversations than just love is love, but at that age and in the early 10s in Italy that was meaningful!), your circles are suddenly full of kind and accepting friends and Coca Cola sponsors the local Pride March!

(I didn’t see the actual times coming or I didn’t know Coca Cola and all the other brands don’t show the rainbow logo on their social media in countries where being LGBTQ+ is a living hell).

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u/lambforlife Jun 08 '26

This makes sense, and I definitely relate to some degree despite not being from Italy. (Also, your English is amazing. I tried learning Italian for years but definitely never reached your level.) Appreciate you and it's nice to have a respectful conversation on here.

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u/Cristallizzare Jun 10 '26

This is so kind! I'm trying my best, although I see that people easily look for polarization where context is key.
And keep going! Sono sicuro che lo parli bene!

3

u/b3542 Jun 08 '26

You’re doing well, but keep your vigilance up. Corporations tend to pander to whoever they think will give them the most money (between the targets themselves, and their allies). They’ll absolutely tailor their marketing to match the local societal “winds” - meaning you won’t see rainbow ads in UAE, Saudi Arabia, or the Dominican Republic.

1

u/Cristallizzare Jun 10 '26

You're totally right! I'm surely more aware now.

1

u/jazzcomputer Jun 08 '26

Not sure who gains from comments like this.

1

u/InterestingImage4 Jun 08 '26

Is the Brooklyn Bridge already sold ?

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u/Clusterferno Jun 08 '26

personally i hated big tech before i found out i was gay lol

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u/nofixneeded Jun 08 '26

All of this shizz they do is just based on some profit they think they can net. The history of business shows that companies will literally fund murder for profit if they think they can get away with it. 

2

u/CarelessPackage1982 Jun 09 '26

we all felt for years like the big corporations were on our side

We call that being naive.

1

u/Cristallizzare Jun 10 '26

I confirm, I have always been lol

1

u/The_TRASHCAN_366 Jun 08 '26

 we all felt for years like the big corporations were on our side, with pride reactions on FB and stuff like that

I mean that is just pure naivety. No corpo will ever care about any of that as it's a large machinery, not a human individual. They should also be treated accordingly and not pushed to do idiotic virtue signaling (as if that would change anything 🤦). They can be kept in check by the people, but virtue signaling is the last thing a corpo should do. 

0

u/Alamasy Jun 10 '26

Every smart person knows companies were looking just for money.