That's absolutely sad to read. The CEO of @mullvadnet is not only financing the far-right Swedish Örebro party, but he even is their main financer. 70+% of their money is his donation. He is the reason why they go nationwide this year.
For obvious reasons i cease to trust this service. Also i do not finance parties that aim for forced deportations.
https://www.flamman.se/techprofil-ger-miljoner-till-orebropartiet/
Mullvad is a political company fighting for free speech, free information and privacy, with two equal co-founders, co-owners and co-CEOs who fundamentally disagree on many issues. Daniel's donation to a political party is private and not part of Mullvad's mission. We protect the right to express and access views we disagree with. We welcome anyone sharing these core values, whatever their other opinions. We are happy to refund others who don't, where we can.
@mullvadnet
Please address the two concerns I raised in my post. This is a generic statement you seem to send currently to many concerned users.
@lostgen Yeah, I got the same form response which does nothing to answer my concerns other than state "yeah, so? freeze peach!" which I wish they'd just say with their whole chest rather than hiding behind cowardice words.
@lostgen yes ... @mullvadnet sounds like the typical techbro-Musk-like 'free speech' bla bla.
@mullvadnet @lostgen the fact remains: when you subscribe to Mullvad you are giving the folks at the top, who get to retain a disproportionate amount of subscription fees, more money with which at least one of them will use to fund political movements without respect for human rights and dignity.
@mullvadnet @lostgen How much free speech and privacy do you think Somalian people living in Sweden will have if the Örebro Party get their way?
@robinadams
If the party gets their way, there won't be any Somalians in Sweden anymore. Nor people with Somalian ancestors.
@mullvadnet
@mullvadnet @lostgen well, won’t be using Mullvad again then
@ThePlant I'm fucking gutted, where do we even go for a VPN now? I cancelled my Proton subscription after the Andy Yen incident last year and moved to Mullvad just for this shit to happen, I'm exhausted
@mullvadnet Go fuck yourself
@mullvadnet@mastodon.online @lostgen@det.social being a fascist is logically incompatible with freedom of speech as historical and current fascists want people killed for political Speech and also meerly existing, please do not passive voice this
@mullvadnet supporting fascism is evil, regardless of whether someone does this in their personal capacity or as part of their business 🤮 I will certainly not renew my subscription and recommend to anyone who asks to do the same
@catsitter Not that critical as having a right wing facist (supporting) CEO, but, if someone does this privately and works for a company like mullvad and the company knows that, it is also dishonest and who should trust a mendacious company whose business model is based on trust?
@mullvadnet Why is the CEO of Mullvad able to profit so much he can bankroll a far-right party pushing for mass deportations? Partly, it seems, because I PAY HIM. Well, I assume since he's on the far right and values profit over people, he'll at least understand the concept of 'voting with our dollars.'
I have no desire to fund a billionaire making the world a worse place. Seeya, Mullvad.
I'm well aware of what a fascist political party that runs on a platform of 'mass deportations' can do to a country. I'm living through it.
And since far-right politicans violate human rights, the right to privacy, and the law all the time in the pursuit of crushing dissent from anyone to their left, you are out of your mind if you think I'd trust any traffic I pass through Mullvad now.
@mullvadnet You can not trust the far right and if one of your CEO is far right or finances them, you as a company and your products are not trustworthy at all.
@lostgen
And we have the right not to use your service. We'll find a better one no problem 😆
May I should try IVPN
1 founder is a fucking fascist.
Quoting you:
"with two equal co-founders"
Ergo, two fucking fascists.
And no,
"who fundamentally disagree on many issues".
You cannot disagree with a fascist and be in bed with him doing business. Doesn't work that way.
Any party asking for "masive deportations" and "support the national values" is a fascist and a nazi party.
@mullvadnet@mastodon.online
I used to recommend you a lot. That's over now.
@lostgen@det.social
@mullvadnet @lostgen Shame your company determined that "free speech at any cost" means more than marginalised communities. My core values don't allow for tolerance of fascists, it's a small difference where free speech doesn't mean permitting hate speech, it certainly doesn't permit fascists and I'm not going to give business to a company that's fine with allowing fascism to flourish and openly permitting collaborating with it. Free speech and tolerance doesn't come for free and if there's one thing we've learned is that the moment you permit fascism and hate to have equal footing, everyone else loses.
@mullvadnet @lostgen Yeah is that what you tell yourselves?
Luckily it's not up to you. You don't get to have your cake and eat it.
@mullvadnet it’s (BY DEFINITION) impossible to support fashism and free speech and privacy at the same time
@mullvadnet
So how can I get a refund, in practice? What do I have to do?
@heptag0n @StephanMatthiesen @mullvadnet @lostgen Sadly that 14 day cut off is a real kicker for those paying more than a month at a time.
@kemra102 yeah, I topped up for another year a month ago :/
@noodlejetski @kemra102 @heptag0n @StephanMatthiesen @lostgen they paid me back for my unused time after an entire month, so hold them to this offer of a refund anyway.
@Vordus @noodlejetski @heptag0n @StephanMatthiesen @lostgen can confirm, I had 6 or 7 months left after purchasing a 12 month subscription and I just got silently refunded after emailing them.
@heptag0n @StephanMatthiesen @mullvadnet @lostgen Tried to login to see when my renewal date is up. The client on my Mac says I have 39 days left, which just means I won't renew. When I try to login, their nginx server gives me a bad gateway error. Maybe their site is being slammed and they don't have load balancing. It's the weekend, so I'll check back on Monday to ensure I don't have any autorenew setup.
@heptag0n @StephanMatthiesen @mullvadnet @lostgen Thanks for the link. I sent my own request for a refund.
@heptag0n @StephanMatthiesen @lostgen
Contact our Support Team by email:
support at mullvadvpn dot net
@mullvadnet You should be careful what you wish for.
@mullvadnet@mastodon.online Seriously? As long as your co-CEO and co-owner receives his money from Mullvad as a company, you’re funding his donations.
I’m sorry, but Mullvad is no longer worth recommending as long as you’re helping to fund it.
@lostgen@det.social
@bruno @mullvadnet @lostgen when a co-equal CEO sits down at a table with a nazi, there are two nazis.
@mullvadnet
Seriously? Wanting to kill people like me is just one acceptable form of "protecting privacy"?
Have you lost your senses?
@lostgen
That's a nice idea but those political parties turn those WORDS into ACTIONS with the money I sent your company. I know how this turns out... I live in the US.
I also know how it turns out.
I am trans, autistic and intersex
I live in Germany
I know history
Sending money to fascists will result in my "eradication" to quote a GOP euphamism.
This is not merely a difference of opinion.
@mullvadnet @lostgen What a disappointing stance. Account abandoned.
@mullvadnet @lostgen Yeah, you can't just "both sides" this kind of shit. Fascism is incompatible with tolerance.
@mullvadnet @lostgen And yet can you guarantee that all money that I give you flows to preserve the freedom of everyone to be freely able to express, live and have privacy? You cannot, since it is proven a large sum went indirectly into making a party that cares about none of those things and actively wants to dismantle human rights.
Caring about only some human rights is impossible, and pretending they are not inherently linked is intellectually dishonest. This isn't a mere "difference of opinion", I'd like to ask you how one could be pro free speech information and privacy when one would like to discriminate based on nationality, deny people entry and housing based on where they come from and discriminate based on place of origin/language/skin colour (these are all personal identification information!!).
You can't! Because they are conflicting goals!
@GLaDTheresCake @mullvadnet @lostgen very well argued.
@mullvadnet@mastodon.online @lostgen@det.social some views are not worth protecting.
@mullvadnet@mastodon.online @lostgen@det.social not all views are equal. When the views are pro ethnic cleansing then we are not on the same side. I do not fuck with fascists neither do I fund them.
I cannot give you any more money and I will now have to warn others.
@mullvadnet This is just badly-worded corporate talk that you copied and pasted dozens of times under every critical post, instead of offering an honest response to what is legitimate concern. And the vagueness of "we protect the right to express and access views we disagree with" does not do you any favours either. In politics there are opposing views as to how finances are handled, and there are those whose views include the notion that entire minorities do not deserve equal rights.
Karl Popper's paradox of tolerance explains in very simple terms how accepting, let alone financially supporting, such views indiscriminately is not as honourable and harmless as you are suggesting. Presenting the financial support of a political party as the noble cause of protecting what you refer to as free speech is a false equivalent. Matter of fact, political parties and politicians do not just "express views" and then go home and nobody is affected. Their very existence is based on aiming to turn those views into legislation, directly affecting the lives of thousands, or millions.
Framing people who ask for refunds because they do not wish for their money to contribute in financing a specific political party with views that go against their ethics as not supporting free speech is dishonest and reprehensible. Do better.
@fringemagnet @mullvadnet @lostgen
It is indeed a canned PR response pasted onto every post questioning the article. Not a good look at all, makes the entire perception of the situation worse imo. I sense a Proton moment coming...
@MostlyTato 100% this, it's the kind of situation that requires a nuanced clarification instead of passive-aggressive vague speak, because looking up what views that party represents isn't exactly reassuring, especially when it concerns immigration:
'[...]Allard asked: "why won't the Liberals push for deporting 100 000 social welfare-Somalis?" and in the same debate said that "Sweden belongs to the Swedes. We have to make sure that we take care of our own damn people and we must deport these damn parasites who sit and live at our expense. [...] In a podcast segment about immigration and deportations Allard stated his opinion and said that "They will also be forced to leave, even if they are born in Sweden, because they have no natural connection to Sweden. They are not Swedish."'
@MostlyTato @fringemagnet @mullvadnet @lostgen Being the main source of funding for a far-right party is even worse than the Proton situation
@sudoer777 @MostlyTato @fringemagnet @mullvadnet @lostgen
Far far worse, absolutely.
@fringemagnet @mullvadnet @lostgen And if fascists use Mullvad to protect themselfs, for their privacy, and that’s a known thing and we can’t really do anything because of privacy principles, I’m okay with that.
But giving money to fascists is a way different problem that can’t be ignored. And yeah, it’s a "personal decision" of the cofounder, but ultimately it’s money he had because of Mullvad, and he’s going to gain money from it in the future too, so paying Mullvad mean giving money to someone that fund fascists with it after. So we can’t separate the company from its founder, except if you fire him and don’t give him any more money from your profit, saying that you disagree with what he’s doing with it.
And I don’t think that’s what is going to happen.
@mullvadnet @lostgen tell your PR team that this statement is worse than saying nothing.
> We protect the right to express and access views we disagree with. We welcome anyone sharing these core values,
"a group of people doesn't deserve human rights" is not just "a view" someone holds, it affects everything they do, their decision making and that of any org they hold power in, the impact they have on the world. you are complicit in your CEO's actions and the consequences will be dramatic.
@jplebreton @mullvadnet @lostgen Also political donations isn't even a speech issue, it's someone weaponizing their economic power to cause physical harm to minorities
@sudoer777 @jplebreton @lostgen May I remind anyone, @mozilla uses @mullvadnet for their VPN-service.
@mullvadnet @lostgen I'm not sure why you think spamming everyone with this same standard corporate non-response is a good idea.
anyway, I'm sure you would defend our right to free speech in spreading the word far and wide that paying for Mullvad ends up pays for fascists, and our right to free association by cancelling our subscriptions, such is your unwavering commitment to our freedom.
@vksxypants @mullvadnet @lostgen They'll defend their "right" to try and drown you out with noise, but that's about it.
"Rights" that exist for "me, not thee" aren't.
@mullvadnet @lostgen
So how do we get a refund? I do not want my money to fund fascists and any money going to mullvad is money going to one of your co-founders, which then funds fascists. You either kick him or you will loose my business going forward.
@mullvadnet Racism and other hate against people isn’t an opinion.
Also, spaming each person with the same message isn’t a good idea.