ProtonMail aligning with the values of the ACLU, EFF, Snowden and others in the fight against de-platforming.
“Regardless of your politics, all instances of deplatforming should be deeply disturbing, even when it might seem justified, like in the case of Parler and Trump. The problem is not that Trump (or any other individual) was deplatformed but that deplatforming is possible in the first place. It is a deep societal problem that the public town squares of the 21st century, which are essential for civil discourse, are entirely controlled by a small number of unelected tech oligarchs.” - ProtonMail
ProtonMail’s recent stance on deplatforming:
ProtonMail’s stance on free speech:
VERY proud to have a paid ProtonMail and ProtonVPN account right now. Well done ProtonMail.
Same here. When reading the second post, i couldn’t help thinking; “sounds like Linux to me”.
A few questions that arose after reading these articles is this: can’t we (the users) make the difference? Do we need legislation to curb these giants? Who made these giants the size they are now? (i think we did collectively).
By putting our trust (unfounded or not) in these companies, not caring at all what they’re becoming and what they’re doing, so long as they serve us goodies, we made them into what they are now.
Now the cat’s out of the bag, now we (those who really care, that is) see the dangers.
I think it’s somewhat great that there’s a call for legislation, but when i take a look at “my” european mp’s, i’m not all that happy.
I see that there are 3 definitly racist, extreme right-wing politicians in there, among other right wingers, who side with aformentioned extremists, but don’t say that out right.
If you take a look at their stance about privacy and control over the people, it’s a small miracle they’re even on the european board.
I don’t know the others, they haven’t been on my radar (yet).
Yes, the big tech companies have become too big, yes, there is a need for legislation and a big yes to “we can change this ourselves too, if we are willing to change our habits”.
I know i have.
Getting a paid proton account was step one.
I agree about the de-platforming and I am a ProtonMail and ProtonVPN user myself.
Though I am not sure about the second paragraph as someone living in the EU. The European Commission itself is responsible for some dumb laws regarding the web etc.
One is where they try to forbid encryption in messaging apps. I would definitely not put my trust in their legislation to regulate big tech.
I think we really need some rules but at the same time we as users like @Eltuxo already said are also guilty of making them big and still promoting their use, nowadays even in public institutions (education) because of the pandemic.
To go back to the de-platforming.
It is a deep societal problem that the public town squares of the 21st century, which are essential for civil discourse, are entirely controlled by a small number of unelected tech oligarchs.
I really agree with this. But I also think that some of the governments and the public discourse also pressured big tech to some of the decisions to ban certain persons from their platforms because it is the zeitgeist but others still can propagate freely their messages through their channels.
The European Union is not a role model for me regarding decisions about regulating the internet. I can only hope it gets better.
