In late 2005, Falkvinge began developing the idea of a political party focused on issues related to
illegal file sharing,
copyright infringement, and
patent infringement. At the time, the main organization active in the copyright debate in Sweden was the nonpartisan
Piratbyrån. On 16 December 2005, Falkvinge registered the
domain name piratpartiet.se (The Pirate Party). The party’s website was launched on 1 January 2006 through a message on a
Direct Connect hub, marking the start of a campaign to register a new political party in
Sweden. Falkvinge chaired the Pirate Party for 18 months, while the party relied on donations and supporter fundraising. He continued as leader through the 2009
European Parliament election, when the party won its first seats. In the
2009 European Parliament election, The Pirate Party received 7.13% of the vote, making it the most popular party among voters under 30, with 25% support in that age group. After the election, polls placed support at only 3.9%, below the 4.0% threshold for entry, and the party did not win representation in the 2010 parliamentary elections.
Controversies During the launch of the party's 2010 election manifesto, Falkvinge stated that
freedom of speech and
freedom of the press should take precedence over the ban on possession of drawings that could be considered
child sexual abuse materials (CSAM). The party proposed repealing the 1999 Child Pornography Act, which prohibits possession of audio and visual materials depicting
child sexual abuse. His comments were made in connection with a court case involving a
manga researcher and translator charged with possessing drawings depicting minors in sexual contexts. The
Swedish Union of Journalists expressed support for Falkvinge's position. The proposal generated internal disagreement within the Pirate Party, leading Falkvinge to initially retract his remarks before restating them in 2012. Falkvinge has been a long-time supporter of
The Pirate Bay, a Sweden-based online search index founded in 2003, known for facilitating
peer-to-peer file sharing, including
copyrighted material such as movies and video games. On 31 May 2006, Swedish police raided the site's hosting facilities as part of an investigation into copyright violations, eventually leading to the
Pirate Bay trial. In response, protests were organized across Europe on 3 June, during which Falkvinge delivered a speech titled "Nothing New Under the Sun". Falkvinge stated he was "invited daily to television and radio to discuss the political issues of file sharing." In the
2006 Swedish general election, the Pirate Party received 0.63% of the national vote.
Stepping down as party leader On 1 January 2011, five years after founding the Pirate Party, Falkvinge announced his resignation as party leader. He took on the role of a political advocate. Deputy leader
Anna Troberg succeeded him immediately. The announcement was made via a live broadcast. In February 2016, Falkvinge became Head of Privacy for
Private Internet Access, a US–based
virtual private network (VPN) service. == Media ==