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Swedish VPN vendor Mullvad is facing a backlash from some customers after co-founder Daniel Berntsson personally donated SEK 5 million (£385,000, $519,000) to the controversial populist Örebropartiet, which is running in Sweden's national elections for the first time.

Berntsson has this week published a blog post explaining the donation, alongside posts titled "Immigration," "Political individualism," and "Moral individualism." Before that, he had not posted since 2019.

The flurry of posts follows weeks of customer criticism over the donation – for example, Finnish blog Moonwriting's post "I'm done with Mullvad." Another blog, Unutterable, is more direct: "Mullvad funding the far-right and the problem with tech company ownership." The Hacker News discussion thread about the donations has reached a remarkable 1,784 comments so far.

Mullvad was co-founded and is still jointly owned and run by two CEOs, Berntsson and Fredrik Strömberg. Its name, as reflected in the company's logo, is Swedish for "mole." It also offers the Mullvad Browser, a privacy-enhanced fork of Firefox ESR co-developed with the Tor Project. Swedish socialist newspaper Flamman ("The Flame") revealed the donation in its story "High-profile techie gives millions to the Örebro Party."

In a post on X, the company said it was devoted to freedom of speech and tolerance, saying: "It should be obvious that Daniel's private donation to a political party is not part of Mullvad's values or mission, in the same way that someone's opinions on animal rights, taxes or public healthcare policy isn't."

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So if I use Mullvad, some of that is funding far-right politics?

[-] iamthetot@piefed.ca 76 points 5 days ago

Yes, although frankly it's really fucking hard to name anything that isn't these days. Like, you probably can't even go grocery shopping without some of that money finding us way to alt right politics.

[-] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 37 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

People can look up how various grocery store brands fund the republicans here: https://shophowyouvote.com/

[-] snoons@piefed.ca 20 points 5 days ago

Thanks lol. Just learned Cheerios are fascist ;-;

[-] traxex@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 5 days ago

That damn bee; I always knew.

[-] pressanykeynow@lemmy.world 6 points 5 days ago

It's like the whole idea of accumulating as much wealth/power as you can leads to control and suffering of those with less wealth/power.

[-] HorseFD@lemmy.world 49 points 5 days ago

At this point it’s safer to just assume every purchase you make is funding far right politics.

[-] oce@jlai.lu 15 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Damnit, this little girl selling me lemonade got me good.

[-] Assassassin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Little ~~girl~~ capitalist fascist Nazi with a merit badge in hating human rights

FTFY

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[-] Garnish2087@fedinsfw.app 46 points 5 days ago

This is a frustrating pposition to be in, particularly when few people are willing to offer viable alternatives in such threads.

I don't want to let a purity test be the reason I impulse switch to a less effective VPN, but don't want to indirectly fund things I don't support. Yes, money I spend on Mullvad might go towards shit I don't want, but what else is on par with Mullvad that doesn't have some other downside?

[-] snoons@piefed.ca 18 points 5 days ago

Afaik IVPN is really the only alternative. I'll be switching to them soon when my account expires.

Before I switched from proton VPN to mullvad VPN, I thought I remembered when doing research there was only a few providers that said they did no logs, and had proof either through 3rd party audits or shown they couldn't provide anything when court ordered.

Does IVPN have proof they do not log? Because im in the same boat, I dont want my money supporting fascists, but i also dont know of any alternative to switch to?

Besides switching back to proton VPN (which id rather not get into any controversy around them)

[-] snoons@piefed.ca 8 points 5 days ago

They don't keep logs but have also never been raided by police, only using a third-party auditor.

Thanks, thats helpful! I saw someone post a link in another comment to a comparison chart (i should have read the rest of the thread before replying), and it looks like they're at the top of my list now.

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[-] kepii@lemmy.world 10 points 5 days ago

Btw I had a lot of time left on my mullvad account and had paid for it a while back, when requesting a refund due to this shitshow they honoured it and paid back the rest.

[-] Jason2357@lemmy.ca 15 points 5 days ago

but don’t want to indirectly fund things I don’t support.

The only safe way to do that is to not spend at all. Unless you find a co-op, your money is going to some owner(s) who will use the money as they please. Commercial VPNs are mostly privacy snake oil and ways to get access to media, so abstaining for a while isn't unreasonable.

[-] onlyhalfminotaur@lemmy.world 21 points 5 days ago

Something something no ethical consumption under capitalism

[-] Jason2357@lemmy.ca 8 points 5 days ago
[-] Mac@mander.xyz 4 points 5 days ago

The sentiment of this saying is true, but you should seek out the best options, anyway.

[-] GalacticRobot@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

Or you should seek to reduce your consumption as much as possible.

[-] late_pessimistic@slrpnk.net 2 points 4 days ago

Or both! Don't consume where possible, seek out the most ethical option when you must

[-] Mac@mander.xyz 4 points 5 days ago

At a co-op you're funding the workers and some of them are routing your money straight to fascists, too.

[-] k0e3@lemmy.ca 9 points 5 days ago

I don't think the world has ever been black and white. Whatever you purchase is based on someone's suffering or funds it in some way or another. The best we can do is be less evil. If you think you can still do good by using mullvad's service, you should stay. If you think switching will be more beneficial for you—even at the cost of productivity and perhaps a difference in price—then you should ditch Mullvad.

I've spent the last 2 years ditching services or products from companies that directly fund suffering. And I thought it was going to be overwhelming... But it wasn't! Ditching Amazon ended up saving my family more than 100 dollars a month if we get things directly from the manufacturer. Plus the quality of items we get is better than cheap Amazon crap. The grocery store takes an extra 5 minutes to look on the back of a package for good or bad parent companies. I know it's not perfect by far. But I'm not giving up being a better instead.

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[-] Dentzy@sh.itjust.works 6 points 5 days ago

Pretty happy for 8 years with Windscribe, a Canadian VPN. The fulfill their promises and no neo-nazis so far... 🤞

[-] Trampampoline@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 days ago

Indeed, and I haven't heard any controversies.

...I am open to anyone who may have one to share.

[-] beSyl@slrpnk.net 2 points 4 days ago

Allegedly, windscribes CEO is a Musk's fan boy. Also, they are an AI first company (both support and dev)

Maybe tunnel bear perhaps

Unfortunately yes

[-] harrys_balzac@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 5 days ago

Appears to be the case.

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this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2026
813 points (96.5% liked)

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