Proton is offering free access to its ProtonVPN Plus and ProtonMail Plus services to journalists affiliated with Reporters Without Borders (RSF) who could benefit from those tools.
“Today, independent journalism is under attack in a way it hasn’t been before,” Proton says. “Governments all over the world are using censorship and intimidation to shut down dissent and we all have a responsibility to defend these vital freedoms. RSF’s mission to support journalists in providing free access to accurate information to everyone is absolutely essential.”
The company is offering free ProtonVPN Plus and ProtonMail Plus access to “RSF-affiliated journalists who work in conflict zones or under repressive regimes.” In this case, the former is supposed to help users bypass governmental restrictions on internet usage; the latter is meant to give journalists a more secure way to communicate with sources in these high-risk areas.
In our review, we found that ProtonVPN offers the best free subscription tiers we’ve seen, and its paid tiers provide access to numerous privacy tools at a reasonable price. It’s an Editors’ Choice winner, and among our picks for the Best Tech Products of 2021.
Proton says that it will also send representatives “to RSF workshops and seminars to train journalists on how to protect themselves from cyberthreats, avoid online surveillance, and bypass censorship” as part of this partnership. Finally, the company plans to raise money for a variety of RSF programs via the 2021 Proton Lifetime Charity Fundraiser.
That fundraiser is essentially a raffle that will offer six winners lifetime access to Proton’s services. The company says that it will match up to $100,000 in donations made as part of this year’s fundraiser, which starts on Dec. 13 and ends on Dec. 28. All proceeds will be donated to RSF to support its Berlin Scholarship Program, Digital Security Lab, and Assistance program.
