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submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by Onyx376@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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[-] nb_mess@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 3 days ago

Wait, the proton ceo is a trump supporter? What the fuck, he's the last person I thought would do that

No, I would not describe him as a trump supporter. I would say that he's a right-wing "Libertarian" tech-bro that has no clue about American politics, just spewing his uneducated bs because he thinks he's some genius. He might be a CERN scientist, but he's a dumbass when it comes to American politics.

(But it is concerning to have such an idiot on the board of the Proton Foundation)

[-] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 9 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

No he had plenty of time to educate himself but instead doubled and tripled down. Also his username ends in 88 which has been the most unsubtle Nazi dog whistle since the invention of usernames and the internet.

[-] fatalicus@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

If you look a bit around in this thread, someone linked an article that mentions he was born in 1988.

[-] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world -3 points 3 days ago

He didn't have to put it in his username.

[-] phx@lemmy.ca 0 points 2 days ago

Neither do the other thousands or millions of people who do so, but it's not a particularly uncommon thing and it's likely enough that (birthdate) is the reason it's there. I've got my birth year (not '88) in my username for some sites because the bare username was already taken

[-] HowManyNimons@lemmy.world 0 points 3 days ago

How convenient.

[-] sprack@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

Isn’t 88 considered extremely lucky in Chinese culture?

[-] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 days ago

You honestly think that’s what he was going for? Someone who grew up in a culture pretty heavily insulated from that but steeped in “former” Nazi ties?

[-] UniversalBasicJustice@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Not only is 88 considered auspicious in his native culture, he was also born in 1988. Normally, yes, be wary of the 88 dog whistle, but without further evidence it looks like a nothing-burger in this case.

[-] sprack@lemmy.world 0 points 3 days ago

I think he’s more likely fascist than a Nazi, given the differentiator being the racial purity part. He lives and works in Switzerland, but was born in Taiwan and educated in the US.

[-] phx@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 days ago

He's a money supporter.

[-] sudoer777@lemmy.ml 5 points 3 days ago

Considering how he runs a business whose goal is to capture the privacy crowd and how a large portion of the privacy crowd is made up of those "Libertarian" tech-bro types, it might be more than just "no clue about American politics", especially since he's also doing stuff like promoting Bitcoin through Proton Wallet which is also popular among "Libertarian" tech-bro types, and the article used for marketing that both-sidesed the problems the "left" vs "right" experience and equated the Democrats with the "left", which is popular among "Libertarian" tech-bro types as well. The 88 in his Reddit username is also suspect regardless of him claiming that it's there because it's his birth year. People who know how to operate a business usually aren't doing it out of stupidity, so I'm not going to give him the benefit of the doubt on this, especially since the entire platform depends on trusting that they aren't doing anything shady.

[-] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 days ago

How do you explain the 88 in his username? That’s not an American thing.

[-] sudoer777@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

My guess is that it's a neo-Nazi thing, so his promoting right-wing American politics (his largest userbase) is probably intentional and not just him being stupid

[-] njm1314@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

I mean he is here publicly supporting Trump so..

[-] Scrollone@feddit.it 1 points 2 days ago

I need to switch away from Proton immediately. Too bad they wouldn't refund me.

this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2025
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