I am beyond frustrated with yet another instance of a company failing to perform basic background checks on their advertising partners. It has come to light that ProtonMail has been sponsoring content from a French YouTuber associated with the far-right.

When confronted, the standard corporate response is: "We didn't know who they were."

This is unacceptable. ProtonMail presents itself as a privacy-focused, ethical alternative to Big Tech. Users choose them precisely because they expect a higher level of awareness and integrity. Claiming ignorance regarding the political alignment of a creator they are actively funding is not just negligent - it is evidence of profound professional incompetence.

If a company's marketing department cannot perform a rudimentary search to see what kind of content they are aligning their brand with, they are either knowingly complicit or entirely unfit to manage their own outreach. Ignorance of one's partners is a choice, and it demonstrates a complete lack of responsibility.

It is exhausting to see companies that are supposed to be "reasonable" or "pro-privacy" stumble into bed with extremists, only to offer a half-hearted apology once they get caught. We deserve better.

Ah fuck... right wingers get funding by ProtonMail