Could someone fully explain the mullvad controversy. From my knowledge so far it seems like the cofounder donated to an alt right party and it’s probably a bad sign for the company. Anything I’m missing?

  • whatiswrongwithyou@lemmy.ml
    6·
    3 days ago

    The party isn’t properly alt right in any way that an anglosphere dweller would recognize.

    It’s not a bad sign for the company in any way. Remember that mullvad was the vpn of choice for pedophiles distributing csam until it wasn’t.

    Mullvads recent statement is also extremely carefully worded to avoid taking what the state would call a political stance. While we may recognize that not condemning the donor is political, what the state considers political is support or detraction from some party or of some speech. If mullvad were to make such a political statement it could be subject to a whole different kind of law.

      • whatiswrongwithyou@lemmy.ml
        1·
        57 minutes ago

        I’m not gonna pretend to be a lawyer or expert in Swedish law. My understanding is that the framework for what amounts to free speech for corporations in Sweden is much more restrictive than in the us.

        So what amounts to an easy win by simply saying “we’re against it” in the us may have consequences elsewhere.

        • CrypticCoffee@lemmy.ml
          1·
          48 minutes ago

          That’s quite vague and speculative. Unless you know a law, it’s like saying, in Honduras it could be legally challenging to eat an orange on a Tuesday. I don’t know for sure as I’m not a lawyer. As you can see, I just made that up, but unless you know a law, you’re just excusing the donation on speculation. I’m in Europe and the speculation sounds like absolute poppycock.

    • ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.netEnglish
      21·
      3 days ago

      They are nationalist racists trying to cloak themselves with populist leftist ideas. This is the leader of that party:

      https://www.friatider.se/markus-allard-om-andra-generationens-invandrare-de-ska-ocksa-ut

      Örebro Party leader Markus Allard goes to the election on expulsions. He opens to withdraw citizenship and also expel second generation of immigrants – even if they were born in Sweden.
      “I’m prepared to cross corpses,” he said.

      One suggestion that he has is that citizenship and permanent residence permits can be torn up – with reference to “Sweden is the country of Swedes”.

      In a section of Yoshi’s Podcast, Allard develops his view on expulsions and explains that he prepared to “go over corpses” to bring home unwanted immigrants. The host notes that there will be no beautiful sight when, for example, immigrant mothers who have been on maternity leave for 15 years are to be deported together with their children. “It’s not going to be pretty to send these people home,” he said. Markus Allard agrees, but says: I think you can handle that optics. Even the children will need to be deported, he explains.

      He further explains that many of the problems relate to second-generation immigrants. They are going out too. Even if they were born in Sweden, because they have no natural connection to Sweden. They are not Swedes. They have not become Swedes. It says Sweden in the passport, but they have not been interested in becoming part of Sweden. There’s a difference. It’s a qualitative difference," Allard said

      Remember; the Nazi’s did the same thing by strategically calling their party the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, despite them not being socialist nor a working class party. This was chosen because Socialism was gaining popularity, and thus the Nazi’s thought it would help their chances of getting votes and public support.

      • whatiswrongwithyou@lemmy.ml
        3·
        3 days ago

        I think you did a good job characterizing the party’s immigration platform, but I don’t think that qualifies as alt right in the way it’s generally understood in the English speaking world.

        That’s not to say it’s not fascist or right wing, just that I think unqualified the phrase alt right doesn’t tend to mean what that party bills itself as in addition to its immigration policy and where it seems to fit inside Swedish politics (which I don’t pretend to understand, only to recognize that it doesn’t seem to be called alt right in Swedish sources).

        A couple of major differences are the English speaking alt rights strong religious current as compared to orebros explicit secularism, the alt right anti-liberal arts stance (it’s the bastion of cultural Marxism, you see) compared with orebros educational policy stance of encouraging music and arts education, the alt right urge to tear down social programs in general as opposed to orebros general position of building them up.

        I wasn’t trying to suggest that orebro isn’t right wing but instead that it’s not alt right by any definition. I don’t think it even has a similar origin to the English speaking alt right having split from an existing party.

        Again, that’s not to say it isn’t right, just that it’s not alt right.

        • orc girly@lemmy.ml
          2·
          2 days ago

          Yes, if you believe they tell the truth (rather than them just co-opting popular ideas like funding education), they’re social fascist instead of straight fascist. I’m not sure they deserve the benefit of the doubt, and Hitler did the same thing, as that other commenter said, so there’s that. Because of all of this, I don’t think it’s necessarily wrong to characterize them as fascist, far-right, etc.

          • whatiswrongwithyou@lemmy.ml
            1·
            2 days ago

            I don’t think I’m giving orebro the benefit of the doubt. I wouldn’t say it’s incorrect to call them fascist or far right either. I just think they’re pretty clearly not alt right.

        • ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.netEnglish
          8·
          3 days ago

          I would personally say that’s unnecessary hairsplitting, since regardless of the specific flavor of evil, it’s still monumentally bad their CEO funded it.

          • whatiswrongwithyou@lemmy.ml
            1·
            2 days ago

            I think there’s a real problem with that line of thinking.

            Without understanding a persons politics are just vibes.

            Also condensing the bloodthirsty futurists who imagine totalizing war of all against all and honestly quaint ethnonationalists who want to have the third reich but without all those pesky wars is pretty clearly a stumble even if you were to recognize that they’re both the enemy of global communism. It’s worth it to recognize that praline ice cream and pickles are wildly different things even if you don’t like either and they both start with the letter “p”.

            And that’s what the op asked about. “It seems like it’s this thing, is that correct?” “No, it’s not that thing”. Which would, to your point, make it neither unnecessary nor hair splitting.