F-Droid Removal
In light of recent actions taken by F-Droid, I have decided to remove WG Tunnel from the official repository.
Explanation
A few months ago, it came to my attention that F-Droid has been receiving substantial funding from the Open Technology Fund (OTF), which is supported and funded by the U.S. government. While this wasn't an immediate dealbreaker, I have reservations about a platform that presents itself as primarily driven by community donations and volunteers, yet accepts large sums of money from government sources. This funding ultimately comes from taxpayer money collected coercively, and I have ethical concerns about F-Droid's taking such funds. I also question the independence of projects that take funds from institutions whose goals directly oppose their own. Governments especially are known for using money as a form of soft power in areas they would otherwise have no control.
More recently, I learned that F-Droid has initiated a campaign against religious texts on their platform, including the Bible and the Quran. These apps have been marked as NSFW (Not Safe for Work), with all Bible apps specifically tagged as promoting "porn and violence content." There are also ongoing discussions about potentially removing all NSFW-tagged apps from the store entirely. The NSFW tag alone effectively shadow bans these apps, hiding them behind a filter by default.
F-Droid themselves have publicly admitted that this moderation policy shift was driven by the funding they received from the OTF:
"Since we have been awarded funding from the OTF Sustainability grant to explore F-Droid policies, we have taken a look at some EU, UK and global content moderation regulations and guidelines to how it may impact F-Droid." source
As a Christian and proponent of independent projects, I can no longer in good conscience keep my app in their store.
Despite F-Droid rolling back this policy, it has become clear that F-Droid is no longer an independent project. Their reliance on government money for their day-to-day operations has effectively rendered them no longer in charge of their own app moderation policy.
For F-Droid users, there are two options for how to use F-Droid repository compatible clients to get the app:
There are also options like Obtainium for an app store-like experience with the standalone version.
Thank you,
Zane