The Tor Project will continue its technical collaboration with Mullvad despite controversy over a co-founder’s political donation, while suspending joint promotional activities and revising language that suggests broader alignment between the organizations’ values.
Tor said the decision followed consultations with community members, staff, and its board, alongside a staff survey, financial analysis, and scenario planning. The organization acknowledged calls to end the relationship and the damage that continuing it could cause to community trust.
The controversy concerns Mullvad co-founder and co-owner Daniel Berntsson’s personal donation to Sweden’s Örebro Party. Swedish newspaper Flamman reported in June that he contributed SEK 5 million during 2025, accounting for 72% of the party’s annual income. The party has advocated large-scale “remigration,” including proposals to send immigrants out of Sweden.
The Tor Project develops privacy and anti-censorship tools intended to protect people from surveillance and repression. Its relationship with the Swedish VPN provider includes Mullvad Browser, launched in April 2023. Built by Tor’s team and distributed by Mullvad, the free browser incorporates Tor Browser’s protections against tracking and fingerprinting but operates independently of the Tor network.
Tor draws limits
Tor said continuing the collaboration supports work its users and contributors depend on. It credited the arrangement with improving Tor Browser’s code structure, maintainability, and auditability, bringing feedback from a wider audience, and providing a lower-risk setting to test features that could eventually benefit Tor Browser users.
However, the organization drew a boundary between that work and endorsing its partner’s broader views. Tor said its defense of free speech does not make all rhetoric compatible with its human rights mission, emphasizing that it opposes speech threatening other rights and freedoms.
Tor has paused proactive co-branding, including joint promotional activity, while maintaining development under what it described as a narrowly scoped agreement. It has also reviewed descriptions and endorsements of Mullvad Browser on its own channels and revised wording implying broader shared values.
The organization described privacy and internet freedom work as severely underfunded, arguing that collaboration sometimes requires difficult compromises. It acknowledged that Mullvad’s benefits from the arrangement remain unacceptable to some community members and said protecting Tor’s mission and independence remains its responsibility.
Community response
A commenter identifying as a Tor Browser developer said the move was too weak and prompted their resignation. They also disputed Tor’s description of the arrangement, asserting that Tor entirely develops and builds Mullvad Browser, while Mullvad supplies funding rather than developers or technical input for Tor Browser.
Other commenters supported continued cooperation, arguing that losing Mullvad Browser would harm users and that privacy organizations should work together despite political disagreements.
Mullvad previously stated the donation was personal, and neither the company nor its parent or sister companies participated in or endorsed it. It declined to condone or condemn the donation, defended cooperation across political differences, and noted disagreements between its founders.
Berntsson separately defended supporting the party’s criticism of corruption and public-sector incentives, while saying he disliked most of its policies and did not want it to gain substantial power.
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