Cmon… It’s a sentence linked to the next one. They are not using that as a way to justify anything, they just explained...
This is precisely the reason why I used both quotes. For me, their "explanation" is pure nonsense. Even more so due to their claim latter on in this same text, saying that:
we are activists, too.
On your question on which email provider I'm using, I could say that my activity does not demand precautions like VPN but there are some providers that I don't use. Proton is one of them, because they promised to users and delivered for police. And what did they have to say on their promises?
We will be making updates to our website to better clarify Proton Mail’s obligations in cases of criminal prosecution and we apologize if this was not clear.
This sounds to me like "sorry for making false promises, we just wanted our statement to sound cool enough to convince you to use our services".