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Mullvad founder donated 5 million SEK to populist Örebro party (www.flamman.se)
submitted 4 months ago by to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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Daniel Berntsson, founder of Mullvad, gave a personal donation of 5 million SEK (roughly 450,000€) in 2025 to Örebropartiet. This enormous donation accounted for 72% of the party’s revenue in 2025.

How does this affect Mullvad’s legitimacy as a company advocating for a free and open internet, while also funding a political party whose agenda seem to contradict these values? The official party website (in Swedish) can be found via the link below.

https://orebropartiet.se/om-oss/

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[–] -2 points 4 months ago (3 children)

"When you vote with your wallet, those with the fattest wallets will be the drivers of effective change." - Cory Doctrow probably quoting someone else

Not to say that making moral choices is useless, but kidding yourself into believing that by not consuming anything touched by bad people, the world will change into something better. Or in this case, Mullvad's CEO will change his politics. "Voting with your wallet" is a fairytale told to liberals to give them the illusion of power. Money is power, but only if you have enough of it.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Yes, in an argument against individual action. But he supports collective voting with wallet

    If one person in private went "oh I don't like this I'll vote with my wallet" they absolutely lose. If everyone gathers together as a community organized world wide (by discussing actions to take, their thoughts on social media and locally, exactly what's happening here), he argues in favor of it. The problem is the rugged individualism vs collective action.

    Yes. If we only vote with our wallet we also lose, but I tend to find those fighting for broader social and political change are also the ones generally discussing how to vote with their wallet these days.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago*

    Fair point. But I can't agree with you on that second part. In my experience, "voting with your wallet" instead of encouraging them to push for change, pacifies people. They see it as a moral off-ramp, the but-I-am-already-doing-something-so-why-should-I-protest. Hell, it has had pacified me for a long time.

    EDIT: Also thanks for the link to the quote.

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