this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2025
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[–] dil@hexbear.net 15 points 7 months ago (5 children)

its employees had received emails containing obscene and vulgar content sent via Proton Mail.

the email service reportedly refused to share details about the sender of the allegedly offensive emails, despite a police complaint.

Last year, the police department of the southern state of Tamil Nadu had sought to block Proton Mail after the email service was found to have been used for sending hoax bomb threats to local schools.

Honestly, pretty glowing review of Proton Mail

[–] shawn1122@lemm.ee 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (4 children)

Bomb threats to local schools were also being sent via Proton.

If they aren't going to help deal with that then I can understand why turning them off and figuring out is the next best step.

Other services likely engage with local authorities when illegal activity is pursued in their platform.

[–] dil@hexbear.net 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

I'm not saying "yay, it's morally good to send bomb threats."

Folks who care about privacy don't want their email provider engaging with local authorities.

when tyranny becomes law rebellion becomes duty

"Illegal" is NOT immoral, and when laws are increasingly being passed by right-wing nutjobs, folks doing the right thing will be doing illegal things.

  • women getting access to an abortion
  • undocumented folks avoiding being sent to El Salvador
  • trans folks getting healthcare

Any platform has three options:

  1. Always comply with law enforcement, and give up vulnerable populations that are targeted by the government
  2. Never comply with law enforcement, and make law enforcement track down bomb threats some other way
  3. Sometimes comply with law enforcement, based on... what criteria? where's the line?

3 is obviously the thing we'd like, but no company is going to open itself up to legal threats by doing it.

This article shows that Proton Mail is falling into category 2. I think that category should exist to protect vulnerable populations.

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 1 points 7 months ago

Nah, they outed a French activist due to a court order. Maybe they're learning though....

[–] shawn1122@lemm.ee 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

I see where you're coming from but I think that line can be drawn by people with a moral compass, which I understand America is failing at right now.

I truly believe most people can distinguish between threatening to bomb children and any of the examples you've listed but perhaps I'm giving people too much of a benefit of the doubt.

[–] dil@hexbear.net 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

There are plenty of people that think that each of those things are morally wrong, and some who would say that they're much worse than a bomb threat.

Those people are writing the laws.

Legality and morality are two completely different things. It's a comfortable lie to think they're the same.

Having an email provider that will not comply with law enforcement is important because any of us could be next on the target list.

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