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submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by ryan_harg@discuss.tchncs.de to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com

I used Mullvad for a long time, but hearing about one of the two CEOs actively supporting and financing swedish Nazis, I'm looking to put my money elsewhere. That's the second one after Private Internet Access (who supported Gab).

I had AirVPN and Surfshark being recomnended, how do people here feel? What do you use?

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[-] lime@feddit.nu 80 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

there was an article today about the entire mullvad company being blindsided by this and a lot of people being upset. with any luck the guy will leave or get thrown out.

also i think they're technically nazbols.

[-] fizzle@quokk.au 16 points 2 weeks ago
[-] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 45 points 2 weeks ago

Cofounder, and 50% owner. For him to get kicked out would take a lot.

[-] lime@feddit.nu 17 points 2 weeks ago

he could be a rational human about it and see that it's bad for the brand. considering he was willing to work with a guy that actively dislikes what he did he may have a few braincells left.

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[-] lime@feddit.nu 19 points 2 weeks ago

co-. the other founder is pretty pissed.

[-] akunohana@piefed.blahaj.zone 14 points 2 weeks ago

This is the only reason for why I haven't demanded a refund of my remaining balance yet. I'm holding out for a dismissal or something.

[-] anothermember@feddit.uk 21 points 2 weeks ago

Demanding a refund could add to the pressure though, you could always renew after he (hopefully) goes. I can't get a refund since mine has just run out but I'm not making any long-term decisions until the dust has settled.

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[-] merde@sh.itjust.works 9 points 2 weeks ago

also i think they're technically nazbols.

what's a nazbol?

[-] Wildmimic@anarchist.nexus 19 points 2 weeks ago

National Bolsheviks, in essence merging nazism with communism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Bolshevism

[-] merde@sh.itjust.works 20 points 2 weeks ago

National Bolsheviks, in essence merging nazism with communism.

Nazism+

what an awful idea

[-] Throbbing_banjo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 2 weeks ago

A Nazi, basically.

It stands for "national bolshevism," so tankies minus the leftism, which... yeah.

[-] lime@feddit.nu 14 points 2 weeks ago

national bolsheviks. basically ultranationalist tankies.

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[-] IAMgROOT@lemmy.wtf 41 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

List of vpns not to use

NordVPN

Facebook Onavo

ExpressVPN

Private Internet Access

Everything Kape Technologies

HolaVPN

PureVPN

ZenMate

CyberGhost

[-] defaultusername@lemmy.dbzer0.com 34 points 2 weeks ago

Imagine someone unironically using Facebook's VPN service.

[-] brickfrog@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 2 weeks ago

You included AirVPN in that list even though they aren't mentioned in either of your screenshots.. maybe a typo? I've never heard of them being associated with Kape so am curious why you lumped them into all that.

[-] IAMgROOT@lemmy.wtf 10 points 2 weeks ago

sorry, typo

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[-] CerineArkweaver@lemmy.dbzer0.com 32 points 2 weeks ago

I use Proton but I'm also in their ecosystem (ie, I also pay for ProtonMail and get the rest of their suite alongside it)

[-] Doug@piefed.social 33 points 2 weeks ago

Wasn’t Proton’s CEO in some hot water a year or so ago, or was that a bunch of hooey? I know it’s impossible to find an ethical CEO, but just curious.

…sure I could look it up, but my phone battery sucks and it helps boost activity.

[-] ryokimball@infosec.pub 16 points 2 weeks ago

They made a very naive comment suggesting a authoritarian regime supports privacy

[-] deliriousdreams@fedia.io 17 points 2 weeks ago

And doubled down then changed their comments as if the way back machine doesn't exist in order to backtrack without having to admit they were wrong.

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[-] Ilandar@lemmy.today 13 points 2 weeks ago

He made a couple of supportive tweets about a Trump anti-trust appointment (who was later fired by Trump) and the Republican Party that offended some people, mainly the American left. People seem to forget that he is not American, nor is Proton an American company, so none of this actually means anything. He cannot vote, he and his company do not fund the American right in any way and he is not someone with a huge online presence, so it's unlikely he has much influence.

More recently a far right influencer in France signed up for Proton's affiliate program and promoted Proton on his channel, which led to some misleading claims about Proton "funding Nazis". Proton immediately removed him from the affiliate program upon being notified of this and apologised for what it claims was an oversight.

Personally I'm very sick of the purity tests and cancel culture on the left and wish people would slow down a bit and really consider whether these "controversies" are actually worth burning it all down for. Proton provides mainstream, easy to use alternatives to big tech and is better existing than not. Its VPN is also one of the few that retains port forwarding, which can be useful for piracy. After the attempts to cancel Proton, the left hard shilled for Mullvad and now it turns out that's objectively worse in terms of its political influencing. Mullvad is another company that does more good in the world than bad, are we going to cancel it too?

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[-] UntouchedWagons@lemmy.ca 24 points 2 weeks ago

I've been using airvpn for almost 10 years now, no complaints.

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[-] Console_Modder@sh.itjust.works 23 points 2 weeks ago
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[-] rmrf@lemmy.ml 23 points 2 weeks ago

It's Mullvad. This whole thing, in my eyes, overreaction to one asshole being an asshole, and not anywhere near as bad as so many other assholes.

That's my opinion, you're 100% valid in voting with your wallet and I respect everyone that draws the line here.

For me, though, Mullvad is the only one worth their salt if you actually want the best of the best for privacy, and there's no ethical consumption under capitalism so this feels like an exercise in futility.

[-] lukalix98@programming.dev 16 points 2 weeks ago

Have we really reached a point in which we have to stick with the "least bad" option? I don't like this.

[-] Azzu@leminal.space 14 points 2 weeks ago

No, we haven't. There are several good alternatives.

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[-] LogicOverFeelings@piefed.ca 21 points 2 weeks ago

Sharing this because I think it's funny, but someone opened an issue on Mullvad's github about the questionable donations of one of the cofounders: https://github.com/mullvad/mullvadvpn-app/issues/10685

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[-] Ice@lemmy.zip 17 points 2 weeks ago

Being in the proton ecosystem I use their VPN, and it's been working great thus far.

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[-] puppinstuff@lemmy.ca 15 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

It’s like picking an airline. No matter who you choose somebody has a story of how they’re varying degrees of awful.

I’m on Proton. I disliked when that one guy made that social post comment about how Republicans are easier to deal with. I’m not offended enough to roll the dice with another provider only to later discover they’re literal nazis, their founder has Epstein connections or they discriminate against trans people.

(Which is to say, if you want to switch from Mullvad I get it.)

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[-] merde@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 weeks ago

but hearing about one of the two CEOs actively supporting and financing swedish Nazis,

sources?

i would like to read about this

[-] akunohana@piefed.blahaj.zone 19 points 2 weeks ago
[-] merde@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 weeks ago

were these people always dipshits or do they become assholes when they make some money?

[-] akunohana@piefed.blahaj.zone 14 points 2 weeks ago

No idea. Although it does fit the Swedish stereotype: white, middle-class, owns some means of production, male. And, for some reason, also: Holocaust denying, racist, neo Nazi, populist, revisionist, neo liberal. [Insert "not all X are Y" argument here.]

I'm going to use up my remaining balance (<100 days) and then switch to IVPN if this guy hasn't been excommunicated yet by that time.

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[-] katinahat@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 weeks ago

I’ve been using Windscribe for 10 years and have been nothing but impressed. Always surprised they don’t get mentioned more in these posts.

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[-] IAMgROOT@lemmy.wtf 10 points 2 weeks ago

PIA is owned by Kape, which appointed someone from Project Raven as a CIO

[-] orca@orcas.enjoying.yachts 9 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I’ve been a Mullvad user for probably about a year but I’m considering Nym.

Editing for further context: their board includes Chelsea Manning which bodes well, I like that they use decentralized nodes, and that all of their code is open for review. The $NYM stuff is a little weird, but to me it comes off like an attempt to decentralize currency, which can anonymize in its own way (with an asterisk). Just not sure what that landscape looks like, since a person’s identity can often be figured out by looking at the public ledger. I’m still learning about Nym though.

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[-] Pika@sh.itjust.works 9 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I'm still using mullvad. I don't care enough about political morals at this day in age. I wouldn't be allowed to operate life if I boycotted every service that went against my principles. I do tend to agree with the statement that while it may not be in my interest. What a co-founder does in a company isn't reflected on the company as a whole. If Mullvad was actively donating to structures or was advocating for it I might care more.

Being said, it goes without saying for me that, considering this picked up news trend in the US and is being shared across every news site and seems to have a massive following on X, which is a known bot platform and hive mind. I'm taking the entire thing with a massive grain of salt, as nothing is allowed onto US news without it being to some advantage of the current government structure. Which means that it's more likely this is being pushed as a nothing-burger with the intent to dissuade people from using a service that has no government controls.

I'm not saying he didn't do it because he has openly admitted to it, but I'm just saying I expect that the entire situation is being blown out of proportion if it's gained trending on US news sites

[-] Dojan@pawb.social 14 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Wait. One of the mullvad founders funding a small Nazi party in Örebro has made national news in the US? The fuck?

I hadn’t even heard of the party until now and I live in the neighbouring county.

Edit: holy shit, they've used the money well. They've grown significantly in the polls, from being a straggler 2022 to being the second largest in recent polls.

Fuck.

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[-] ryan_harg@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 2 weeks ago

Well I didn't ask about a discussion but about alternatives. You do you.

[-] Pika@sh.itjust.works 9 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Ah, sorry. I misunderstood then. I took how do people here feel? What do you use? as an invitation that you were willing for discussions. I didn't realize you aren't looking for discussions ^^'

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this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2026
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