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Another Scandal: Proton also sponsors fugitive Paulo Figueiredo, a far-right influencer from brazil (lemmy.nz)
submitted 2 months ago by cm0002@literature.cafe to c/privacy@programming.dev
8 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kje5jRdpCg [8:26] (Amost all videos on the channel have links associated with Proton)

Paulo Figueiredo, grandson of General João Baptista Figueiredo, the last Brazilian president during the military dictatorship, is a far-right coup-supporting influencer considered a fugitive and currently residing in the USA. He is accused of participating in the attempted coup d'état of January 8, 2023, in Brazil, of working with US authorities to punish Brazilian officials for the legal proceedings against former coup-supporting president Jair Bolsonaro, and is a target of the fake news inquiry, which investigates, among other crimes, plans to assassinate politicians and judges of the Brazilian Supreme Court.

The influencer was a business partner of Donald Trump, a relationship that led to his arrest in the US for involvement in a bribery scheme at BRB (a state-owned bank in the Brazilian capital).

Figueiredo is selling a course on politics and history aligned with far-right ideas, having offered it to seven congressmen who support Jair Bolsonaro, a staunch defender of the Brazilian military dictatorship financed by the USA, on the eve of Trump's inauguration for a second term in January 2025.

This is not "plurality." This is not "respecting the other side." It is the normalization of figures who should be unanimously considered criminals for attacking democratic institutions and freedoms.

Given all this "operational error" by Proton's sponsors, I see that any user with democratic awareness on some internet privacy forum seems to be better than their global communications team.

THIS EXCUSE DOESN'T WORK!

OC by @Onyx376@lemmy.ml

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[-] nocturne@slrpnk.net 19 points 2 months ago

Did they sponsor him? Or is it like the one you posted a day or two ago where he signed up to be an affiliate, and when it was brought to their attention they dealt with it?

[-] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I guarantee it's the same kind of situation as the French dude, if there's any merit to this at all.

Honestly, gotta hand it to the russian botnet spreading FUD about Proton. Proton is 100% the most widely known privacy-focused cloud service provider right now, so it only makes sense to discredit them where/when/however possible, and it's predictably getting the paranoid people riled up. Take some innocuous thing (Proton's "partner" program that literally anybody can sign up for, including right-wing politicians, without vetting) and blow it wildly out of proportion. Very simple, very effective.

I'm not saying Proton is perfect, but this is excessive. Apple, Google, Meta, etc all do way worse and yet there is very little outcry in comparison to this.

[-] kibblebits@quokk.au 6 points 2 months ago

Since it’s a link to a video and not a respected news source, I’d say it’s probably just BS

It appears to be OC from ML? So there must be some kind of “crush the west” angle to this.

[-] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 months ago

It appears to be OC from ML? So there must be some kind of “crush the west” angle to this.

This shit going around about Proton is 100% FUD. They are one of the most widely known privacy-focused cloud services providers.

[-] kibblebits@quokk.au 2 points 2 months ago

ML just love to burn everything because they hate themselves and want everyone to hate themselves too.

[-] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 2 months ago

True, but it's not just ML.

[-] Scoopta@programming.dev 1 points 2 months ago

Probably, MLs view of far right is questionable...do note I haven't looked into the channel so maybe it's applicable, I just take that term with a massive grain of salt coming from ML

[-] msokiovt@lemmy.today 0 points 2 months ago

The issue here is that Proton is already looking to strengthen their vetting process. They literally admitted their mistake with the French anti-Zionist dude, and this is something they missed big time.

this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2026
-13 points (25.9% liked)

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