5 ms·

I don't know why proton's leadership just doesn't shut up and make money while providing awesome pro-privacy services. Is coca-cola american? most people would

I don't know why proton's leadership just doesn't shut up and make money while providing awesome pro-privacy services. Is coca-cola american? most people would say so but their hq is in china! These multi-nationals don't have 'branches' in Europe, they are incorporated there as well, that's why they're called multi-national. they pay European taxes and are subject to European laws such as GDPR and other data-residency laws, which means their data-center, and a large chunk of their support staff (Europeans are cheaper than Americans to hire/pay) are in Europe. Should Americans avoid Proton and its products so they don't rely on Europe? Hypocrite much there friend? Should we avoid European cars? Maybe Ozempic/glp-1 medication should be manufactured by US companies in America (Denmark's GDP is seeing most of it's multi-digit growth thanks to American Ozempic usage). Proton's leadership supported Trump and the GOP and now they want to promote nationalistic brand loyalty? These people make it hard to be against trump's b.s. tariffs and hostility against our allies. Proton has a good product, why isn't that enough? They also have to meddle in politics and make it about "America vs Europe" or "Republicans vs Democrats"? You know what would be great? if employee and customer owned companies replaced even the likes of proton so we can democratically vote incompetent leadership like this out. Make good products, let the products sell themselves. Why should Europeans have to put up with inferior products for the sake of nationalism? If you want to support Europe so much, tell us about how great your company's product is and how superior it is compared to American alternatives, I'd be down for that. Europeans can and do buy European goods and services of better quality, try finding a Swizz that enjoys American cheese and chocolate, or a European that drives oversized American pickup trucks. Unless you're speaking as an individual or you are an elected politician, don't misuse whatever platform you have to meddle in politics.

neobrain 1y ago
> Proton's leadership supported Trump and the GOP ... this again? Come on. The CEO once expressed support for Gail Slater as head of antitrust and subsequently criticized lack of effective work towards tech regulation on the Democratic side in the same social media thread. Calling that support for either Trump or the entire GOP is a massive stretch, and throwing the claim out without context borders on disinformation.
- notepad0x90 1y ago
  He did in fact support the GOP since they will tackle "big-tech abuse" more (aka benefit proton): https://theintercept.com/2025/01/28/proton-mail-andy-yen-trump-republicans/ https://theintercept.com/2025/01/28/proton-mail-andy-yen-tru... I can only assume they're actively donating to the GOP and trying lobby. In other words, it's not even support for trump that's a problem, but willingness and desire to get into bed with political parties that favor them in the moment (shouldn't at all).
  - neobrain 1y ago
    > He did in fact support the GOP since they will tackle "big-tech abuse" more The context was that some GOP-affiliated politicians attended certain meetings for supporting tech regulation whereas democrats didn't. The article doesn't mention this original context but talks about the secondary tweets as if that had been Yen's primary message. > I can only assume they're actively donating to the GOP and trying lobby. In other words, it's not even support for trump that's a problem, but willingness and desire to get into bed with political parties that favor them in the moment (shouldn't at all). Do you have any other data point that supports these ideas, or are you extrapolating from this single specific event?
    - notepad0x90 1y ago
      i'm extrapolating as you said, but not by that specific event alone but repeated political meddling that comes from their leadership. They're looking to influence politicians. > The context was that some GOP-affiliated politicians attended certain meetings for supporting tech regulation whereas democrats didn't. The article doesn't mention this original context but talks about the secondary tweets as if that had been Yen's primary message. The context was around the time of the 2024 elections in the US. He didn't simply say that republicans attended their meeting or whatever, as you can clearly see, he expressed his beliefs about "corporate democrats" and how republicans are not beholden to corporations b.s. (this sh!t matters when you have reach!!).
lossolo 1y ago
It's not really about nationalism. It's about other nations (especially those likely to face serious problems in the near future) having leverage over you, which they could use to serve their own interests at the expense of yours. Look at how Huawei was essentially destroyed in Europe, even though it was growing by double digits each year. This happened because they were blocked from accessing Google services by U.S. government. You can't just easily switch to an alternative when U.S. software monopolies dominate the market. Replacing them would take a lot of time and money. Ultimately, this is about national security and geopolitical concerns.
slumberlust 1y ago
> Is coca-cola american? most people would say so but their hq is in china! Wasn't aware of this, citation? From what I can see they still list HQ in Atlanta.

neobrain 1y ago

> Proton's leadership supported Trump and the GOP ... this again? Come on. The CEO once expressed support for Gail Slater as head of antitrust and subsequently criticized lack of effective work towards tech regulation on the Democratic side in the same social media thread. Calling that support for either Trump or the entire GOP is a massive stretch, and throwing the claim out without context borders on disinformation.

notepad0x90 1y ago
He did in fact support the GOP since they will tackle "big-tech abuse" more (aka benefit proton): https://theintercept.com/2025/01/28/proton-mail-andy-yen-trump-republicans/ https://theintercept.com/2025/01/28/proton-mail-andy-yen-tru... I can only assume they're actively donating to the GOP and trying lobby. In other words, it's not even support for trump that's a problem, but willingness and desire to get into bed with political parties that favor them in the moment (shouldn't at all).
- neobrain 1y ago
  > He did in fact support the GOP since they will tackle "big-tech abuse" more The context was that some GOP-affiliated politicians attended certain meetings for supporting tech regulation whereas democrats didn't. The article doesn't mention this original context but talks about the secondary tweets as if that had been Yen's primary message. > I can only assume they're actively donating to the GOP and trying lobby. In other words, it's not even support for trump that's a problem, but willingness and desire to get into bed with political parties that favor them in the moment (shouldn't at all). Do you have any other data point that supports these ideas, or are you extrapolating from this single specific event?
  - notepad0x90 1y ago
    i'm extrapolating as you said, but not by that specific event alone but repeated political meddling that comes from their leadership. They're looking to influence politicians. > The context was that some GOP-affiliated politicians attended certain meetings for supporting tech regulation whereas democrats didn't. The article doesn't mention this original context but talks about the secondary tweets as if that had been Yen's primary message. The context was around the time of the 2024 elections in the US. He didn't simply say that republicans attended their meeting or whatever, as you can clearly see, he expressed his beliefs about "corporate democrats" and how republicans are not beholden to corporations b.s. (this sh!t matters when you have reach!!).

lossolo 1y ago

It's not really about nationalism. It's about other nations (especially those likely to face serious problems in the near future) having leverage over you, which they could use to serve their own interests at the expense of yours. Look at how Huawei was essentially destroyed in Europe, even though it was growing by double digits each year. This happened because they were blocked from accessing Google services by U.S. government. You can't just easily switch to an alternative when U.S. software monopolies dominate the market. Replacing them would take a lot of time and money. Ultimately, this is about national security and geopolitical concerns.

slumberlust 1y ago

> Is coca-cola american? most people would say so but their hq is in china! Wasn't aware of this, citation? From what I can see they still list HQ in Atlanta.