This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: Map of elected pirates is heavily outdated.(October 2021) |
Pirate Party | |
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Ideology | Pirate politics |
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Pirate Party is a label adopted by political parties around the world. [1] Pirate parties support civil rights, direct democracy (including e-democracy) or alternatively participation in government, reform of copyright and patent laws to make them more flexible and open to encourage innovation and creativity, use of free and open-source software, free sharing of knowledge (open content and open access), information privacy, transparency, freedom of information, free speech, anti-corruption, net neutrality and oppose mass surveillance, censorship and Big Tech. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Their libertarian philosophy is based on the idea that the Internet is a public space and that everyone should have the right to access it equally, they argue that interference by governments and IT big business violates the right to live as one wishes, without fear or coercion, and that the citizens should have the right to express their opinions freely and without restraint, even if those opinions are controversial or unpopular.
The Pirate Party's focus on these ideas aligns well with the principles of civil libertarianism and cyberlibertarianism, [8] making it a strong ally in the fight for individual freedoms.
While the name pirate party originally alluded to online piracy, members have made concerted efforts to connect pirate parties to all forms of piracy, from pirate radio to the Golden Age of Pirates.
Pirate parties are often considered outside of the economic left-right spectrum or to have context-dependent appeal. [9]
The first Pirate Party to be established was the Pirate Party of Sweden (Swedish : Piratpartiet), whose website was launched on 1 January 2006 by Rick Falkvinge. Falkvinge was inspired to found the party after he found that Swedish politicians were generally unresponsive to Sweden's debate over changes to copyright law in 2005. [10]
The United States Pirate Party was founded on 6 June 2006 by University of Georgia graduate student Brent Allison. The party's concerns were abolishing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, reducing the length of copyrights from 95 years after publication or 70 years after the author's death to 14 years, and the expiry of patents that do not result in significant progress after four years, as opposed to 20 years. However, Allison stepped down as leader three days after founding the party. [11]
The Pirate Party of Austria (German : Piratenpartei Österreichs) was founded in July 2006 in the run-up to the 2006 Austrian legislative election by Florian Hufsky and Jürgen "Juxi" Leitner. [12]
The Pirate Party of Finland was founded in 2008 and entered the official registry of Finnish political parties in 2009.
The Pirate Party of the Czech Republic (Czech : Česká pirátská strana) was founded on 19 April 2009 by Jiří Kadeřávek.
The 2009 European Parliament election took place between the 4 and 7 June 2009, and various Pirate Parties stood candidates. The most success was had in Sweden, where the Pirate Party of Sweden won 7.1% of the vote, and had Christian Engström elected as the first ever Pirate Party Member of European Parliament (MEP). [13] [14] Following the introduction of the Treaty of Lisbon, the Pirate Party of Sweden were afforded another MEP in 2011, that being Amelia Andersdotter.
On 30 July 2009, the Pirate Party UK was registered with the Electoral Commission. Its first party leader was Andrew Robinson, and its treasurer was Eric Priezkalns. [15] [16] [17]
In April 2010, an international organisation to encourage cooperation and unity between Pirate Parties, Pirate Parties International, was founded in Belgium. [18]
In the 2011 Berlin state election to the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin, the Pirate Party of Berlin (a state chapter of Pirate Party Germany) won 8.9% of the vote, which corresponded to winning 15 seats. [19] [20] John Naughton, writing for The Guardian , argued that the Pirate Party of Berlin's success could not be replicated by the Pirate Party UK, as the UK does not use a proportional representation electoral system. [21]
In the 2013 Icelandic parliamentary election, the Icelandic Pirate Party won 5.1% of the vote, returning three Pirate Party Members of Parliament. Those were Birgitta Jónsdóttir for the Southwest Constituency, Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson for Reykjavik Constituency North and Jón Þór Ólafsson for Reykjavik Constituency South. [22] [23] Birgitta had previously been an MP for the Citizens' Movement (from 2009 to 2013), representing Reykjavik Constituency South. As of 2015 [update] , it was the largest political party in Iceland, with 23.9% of the vote. [24]
The 2014 European Parliament election took place between the 22 and 24 May. Felix Reda was at the top of the list for Pirate Party Germany, and was subsequently elected as the party received 1.5% of the vote. Other notable results include the Czech Pirate Party, who received 4.8% of the vote, meaning they were 0.2% off getting elected, the Pirate Party of Luxembourg, who received 4.2% of the vote, and the Pirate Party of Sweden, who received 2.2% of the vote, but lost both their MEPs. [25]
Reda had previously worked as an assistant in the office of former Pirate Party MEP Amelia Andersdotter. [26] On 11 June 2014, Reda was elected vice-president of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament. [27] Reda was given the job of copyright reform rapporteur. [28]
The Icelandic Pirate Party was leading the national polls in March 2015, with 23.9%. The Independence Party polled 23.4%, only 0.5% behind the Pirate Party. According to the poll, the Pirate Party would win 16 seats in the Althing. [29] [30] In April 2016, in the wake of the Panama Papers scandal, polls showed the Icelandic Pirate Party at 43% and the Independence Party at 21.6%, [31] although the Pirate Party eventually won 15% of the vote and 10 seats in the 29 October 2016 parliamentary election.
In April 2017, a group of students at University of California, Berkeley formed a Pirate Party to participate in the Associated Students of the University of California senate elections, winning the only third-party seat. [32]
Czech Pirate Party entered the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament for the first time after the election held on 20 and 21 October 2017 with 10.8%.
Czech Pirate Party, after finishing at the second place at the 2018 Prague municipal election, held on 5 and 6 October 2018, with 17.1%, formed a coalition with Prague Together and United Forces for Prague (TOP 09, Mayors and Independents, KDU-ČSL, Liberal-Environmental Party and SNK European Democrats). The representative of the Czech Pirate Party, Zdeněk Hřib, was selected as a Mayor of Prague. It is probably for the first time, when any pirate party has a mayor in one of the major cities of the world.
At the 2019 European Parliament election, three Czech Pirate MEPs and one German Pirate MEP were voted in and joined the Greens–European Free Alliance, the aforementioned group in the European Parliament that has previously included Swedish Pirate MEPs and German Julia Reda.
This section needs additional citations for verification .(February 2018) |
While parties vary insofar as specific policies go, common themes of the Pirate movement include:
Some campaigns have included demands for the reform of copyright and patent laws. [34] In 2010, Swedish MEP Christian Engström called for supporters of amendments to the Data Retention Directive to withdraw their signatures, citing a misleading campaign. [35]
Pirate Parties International (PPI) is the umbrella organization of the national Pirate Parties. Since 2006, the organization has existed as a loose union [36] of the national parties. Since October 2009, Pirate Parties International has had the status of a non-governmental organization (Feitelijke vereniging) based in Belgium. The organization was officially founded at a conference from 16 to 18 April 2010 in Brussels, when the organization's statutes were adopted by the 22 national pirate parties represented at the event. [37]
The European Pirate Party (PPEU) is a European political party founded in March 2014 which consists of various pirate parties within European countries. [38]
Pirates Without Borders is an international association of pirates. Unlike Pirate Parties International (which accepts only parties as voting members and organizations as observing members), Pirates Without Borders accept individuals as members. The PWB see themselves as a basis for international projects. Through global cooperation, they strive to reveal the impact of multinational trade agreements on all people on Earth, and foster freedom and democracy. [39] PWB originates from an independent committee for the coordination of Pirate parties in German-speaking countries, known as DACHLuke (DACHL = Germany-Austria-Switzerland-Luxembourg).
Since the Pirate Parties International Conference 2011 on 12 and 13 March 2011, PWB is an "observing member" of Pirate Parties International. The previously independent project "pirate streaming" has become a part of Pirates without Borders since 3 May 2011[ citation needed ]. [40]
In Parti Pirate Francophone, the French-speaking Pirate Parties are organized. Current members are the pirates parties in Belgium, Côte d'Ivoire, France, Canada, and Switzerland. [41]
State | Date | % | Seats |
---|---|---|---|
Sweden | 7 June 2009 | 7.1 | 2 |
Germany | 7 June 2009 | 0.9 | 0 |
State | Date | % | Seats |
---|---|---|---|
Croatia * | 14 April 2013 | 1.1 | 0 |
*Held in 2013 due to Croatia's entry into EU
State | Date | % | Seats |
---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom 1 | 22 May 2014 | 0.5 | 0 |
Netherlands | 22 May 2014 | 0.9 | 0 |
Austria 2 | 25 May 2014 | 2.1 | 0 |
Croatia | 25 May 2014 | 0.4 | 0 |
Czech Republic | 25 May 2014 | 4.8 | 0 |
Finland | 25 May 2014 | 0.7 | 0 |
France | 25 May 2014 | 0.3 | 0 |
Germany | 25 May 2014 | 1.5 | 1 |
Greece 3 | 25 May 2014 | 0.9 | 0 |
Estonia 4 | 25 May 2014 | 1.8 | 0 |
Luxembourg | 25 May 2014 | 4.2 | 0 |
Poland | 25 May 2014 | <0.1 | 0 |
Slovenia | 25 May 2014 | 2.6 | 0 |
Spain | 25 May 2014 | 0.2 | 0 |
Sweden | 25 May 2014 | 2.2 | 0 |
1Party only participated in North West England constituency
2PPAT is in alliance with two other parties: The Austrian Communist Party and Der Wandel. The alliance is called "Europa Anders" and also includes some independents in their lists
3with Ecological Greens
4PPEE are campaigning for an independent candidate (Silver Meikar) who supports the pirate program
State | Date | Votes | % | Seats |
---|---|---|---|---|
Czech Republic | 24 May 2019 | 330,844 | 4.8 | 3 |
Finland | 26 May 2019 | 12,579 | 0.7 | 0 |
France | 26 May 2019 | 30,105 | 0.1 | 0 |
Germany | 26 May 2019 | 243,302 | 0.7 | 1 |
Italy | 26 May 2019 | 60,809 | 0.2 | 0 |
Luxembourg | 26 May 2019 | 96,579 | 7.7 | 0 |
Spain | 26 May 2019 | 16,755 | 0.1 | 0 |
Sweden | 26 May 2019 | 26,526 | 0.6 | 0 |
This article needs to be updated.(February 2019) |
Country | Date | % | Seats |
---|---|---|---|
Sweden | 17 September 2006 | 0.6 | 0/349 |
Germany | 27 September 2009 | 2.0 | 0/622 |
Sweden | 19 September 2010 | 0.7 | 0/349 |
United Kingdom | 6 May 2010 | 0.4 | 0/650 |
Netherlands | 9 June 2010 | 0.1 | 0 |
Finland | 17 April 2011 | 0.5 | 0 |
Canada | 2 May 2011 | <0.1 | 0 |
Switzerland | 23 October 2011 | 0.5 | 0 |
Spain | 20 November 2011 | 0.1 | 0 |
Greece | 6 May 2012 | 0.5 | 0 |
Greece | 17 June 2012 | 0.2 | 0 |
Netherlands | 15 March 2017 | 0.3 | 0 |
Israel | 22 January 2013 | 0.1 | 0 |
Iceland | 27 April 2013 | 5.1 | 3/63 |
Iceland | 29 October 2016 | 14.5 | 10/63 |
Iceland | 15 September 2017 | 9.2 | 6/63 |
Iceland | 25 September 2021 | 8.6 | 6/63 |
Australia | 7 September 2013 | 0.3 | 0 |
Australia | 2 July 2016 | <0.1 | 0 |
Australia | 18 May 2019 | TBA | 0 |
Australia (as Fusion Party) | 21 May 2022 | TBA | 0 |
Norway | 9 September 2013 | 0.3 | 0 |
Germany | 22 September 2013 | 2.2 | 0 |
Austria | 29 September 2013 | 0.8 | 0 |
Luxembourg | 20 October 2013 | 2.9 | 0 |
Slovenia | 13 July 2014 | 1.3 | 0 |
Sweden | 14 September 2014 | 0.4 | 0 |
Israel | 17 March 2015 | <0.1 | 0 |
Finland | 19 April 2015 | 0.9 | 0 |
United Kingdom | 6 May 2015 | <0.1 | 0 |
Germany | 24 September 2017 | 0.4 | 0 |
Czech Republic | 21 October 2017 | 10.8 | 22/200 |
Iceland | 28 October 2017 | 9.2 | 6/63 |
Slovenia | 3 June 2018 | 2.2 | 0 |
Sweden | 9 September 2018 | 0.1 | 0 |
Luxembourg | 14 October 2018 | 6.5 | 2/60 |
Israel | 9 April 2019 | <0.1 | 0 |
Finland | 14 April 2019 | 0.6 | 0 |
Belgium | 26 May 2019 | 0.1 | 0 |
Czech Republic | 9 October 2021 | 15.68 (in coalition with Mayors and Independents | 4 |
Representatives of the Pirate Party movement that have been elected to a national or supranational legislature.
Since the 2021 Czech legislative election, only the following 4 MP are in office:
The following served as MPs from 2017 to 2021
Outside Sweden, pirate parties have been started in over 40 countries, [48] inspired by the Swedish initiative.
The Left-Green Movement, officially the Left Movement – Green Candidature and also known by its short-form name Vinstri græn (VG), is an eco-socialist political party in Iceland.
The Pirate Party is a political party in Sweden founded in 2006. Its sudden popularity has given rise to parties with the same name and similar goals in Europe and worldwide, forming the International Pirate Party movement.
Svobodní, until 2019 known as the Party of Free Citizens or the Free Citizens' Party, is a classical liberal and right-libertarian, Eurosceptic political party in the Czech Republic founded in 2009 by Petr Mach, an economist and professor of macroeconomics. Before assuming his position as an MEP, Mach taught economics at VŠFS and VŠEM. The party is led by Libor Vondráček.
Lars Christian Engström is a Swedish computer programmer, activist and politician. He is deputy chairman of the Swedish Pirate Party. Engström was elected a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the 2009 election.
Amelia Anna Matilda Katarina Andersdotter is a Swedish politician and former Member of the European Parliament (2011–2014), elected on the Pirate Party list in the 2009 election.
The Pirate Party Germany, commonly known as Pirates, is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the information society; it is part of the international movement of pirate parties and a member of the Pirate Parties International.
TOP 09 is a liberal-conservative political party in the Czech Republic, led by Markéta Pekarová Adamová. 14 of its members sit in the Chamber of Deputies, and three of them are MEPs.
The Czech Pirate Party, or Pirates is a liberal progressive political party in the Czech Republic, founded in 2009. The party was founded as a student-driven grassroots movement campaigning for political transparency, civil rights and direct democracy.
The Pirate Party of Canada was a minor party in federal Canadian politics. Founded in 2009, the party officially registered with Elections Canada in 2010. The PPCA is modelled on the Swedish Pirate Party and advocates intellectual property reform, privacy protection, network neutrality and greater government openness. No member of the party has been elected to Parliament. The party officially deregistered on November 30, 2017.
Pirate Parties International (PPI) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Formed in 2010, it serves as a worldwide organization for Pirate Parties, currently representing 39 members from 36 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australasia. The Pirate Parties are political incarnations of the freedom of expression movement, trying to achieve their goals by the means of the established political system rather than just through activism. In 2017 PPI had been granted special consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
The Pirate Party is a political party in Iceland. The party's platform is based on pirate politics and direct democracy. The party was founded on 24 November 2012 and ran for the first time in the 2013 parliamentary election.
The Young Pirates of Europe (YPE) are a European federation of European pirate youth organisations and other youth organisations that work on digital issues, for transparency in government, participating democracy and civil rights.
Felix Reda is a German researcher, politician, and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany. He was a member of the Pirate Party Germany until 27 March 2019, part of The Greens–European Free Alliance. He has been Vice-President of the Greens/EFA group since 2014. He was also previously the president of Young Pirates of Europe. After the 2019 European Parliament election, Reda was succeeded by Patrick Breyer, Marcel Kolaja, Markéta Gregorová, and Mikuláš Peksa.
Ásta Guðrún Helgadóttir is an Icelandic politician who was a Pirate Party member of the Icelandic parliament from 2015 to 2017. She represented Reykjavík South.
Ivan Bartoš is a Czech civil rights activist and a Czech Pirate Party politician, serving as the Minister of Regional Development and Deputy Prime Minister for Digitalization in the governing Cabinet of Petr Fiala since December 2021. He has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic since October 2017, and the chairman of the party since 2016, as well as previously between 2009 and 2014.
The 2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic was held on 24 and 25 May 2019, electing the 21 members of the Czech delegation to the European Parliament as part of the European elections held across the European Union.
Marcel Kolaja is a Czech software engineer, Internet freedom and digital rights activist and a Czech Pirate Party politician who serves as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since the 2019 election and Quaestor of the European Parliament since 2022. He is a member of the Greens–European Free Alliance parliamentary group along with three other European Pirate Party MEPs.
Mikuláš Peksa is a Czech biophysicist, activist and Czech Pirate Party politician. He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in the 2019 election, and sits as a member of the Greens–European Free Alliance parliamentary group.
Elections will be held in the Czech Republic on 7-8 June 2024 to elect the 21 Czech representatives for the European Parliament, alongside the EU-wide 2024 European Parliament election. The newly elected European Parliament should consist of 720 deputies in total.
Andrés Ingi Jónsson is an Icelandic MP, representing Reykjavík North as a member of the Pirate Party. He was first elected to the Alþingi in 2016 as a member of the Left-Green Movement and again in 2017, later leaving the party in protest.