INTRODUCTION
In a football match, the referee blows a whistle for the fouls played during the game. But what is the role of blowing a whistle in an organization? ‘Whistleblowing’ refers to shout out to the fraud, illegal, immoral commitments or actions in an organization. Whistleblowers are the employees working in an organization who put courage into disclosing unethical activities committed inside an organization. Whistleblowers have a major role in this intricate world where developments and innovations are proportionate to corruption and unethical activities in private and public organizations. They reveal these illegal, immoral activities, also about unsafe working environments and prevent the fraud and peril around them. The disclosures range from revealing the theft of millions of dollars of public money in Kenya to the cover-up of SARS and other dangerous diseases that threaten millions in China, to exposing dangerous doctors in Australia or making environmental hazards known in the US[1]. Many countries have whistle-blower protection laws to protect these employees. They need to be protected as they lack job security like quick job termination, Sometimes they are even haunted by physical and mental torture.
In the modern world, Technology has the power to spin the world. Major issues faced in the technology industry are data privacy and security issues. Most technology industries promise to maintain customer secrecy, but in most cases, this only exists in words. Technology giants like Apple, Meta, Google, and others have already been hit with major whistle-blowing incidents.
UNCOVER THE TRUTH: THE IMPORTANCE OF TECH WHISTLEBLOWING
Whistle-blowers are a pivotal source of facts about the tech industry. Every tech industry has its own secrecy and trade secrets, Through which it earns large profit ratios
In the year 2021, Frances Haugen (Former product manager of Facebook) exposed tens of thousands of pages of internal Facebook documents to Congress, the Security and Exchange Commission, and the Wall Street Journal. She mentioned that Facebook chose its own interest and benefit over the public interest. She allegedly said that the company heads profit above their customer’s good health and welfare. Her complaint alleges that Facebook’s Instagram harms teenage girls. The content creates a harmful impact on children and teenagers and also weakens democracy. She explained about the Facebook algorithm that decides what you see on your Facebook feed. Facebook’s own research showed that content that is hateful, divisive, and polarising is easier to inspire people to anger than other emotions. Anger content and misinformation attract more people and keep them engaged[2].
Timnit Gebru, AI Ethics Researcher, Was fired from Google when she refused to retract a research paper she co-authored about the downfalls of a type of AI software that powers the company’s search engine. She accused the company of institutional racism and suppressing research. She dealt with an onslaught of insults and harassment brimming with misogynoir, hatred aimed at Black women, she said[3].
In 2020, Ifeoma Ozoma – a whistleblower who used to work at Pinterest. She came forward with accusations of racism against the company[4].
Many such cases of tech whistleblowing have been raised against technology giants worldwide.
GLOBAL LEGAL FRAMEWORKS FOR PROTECTING WHISTLEBLOWERS IN THE TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY
Many countries have adopted specific laws through which they could protect whistle-blowers in their respective countries. Some other countries with no particular laws enacted for whistle-blowers have introduced laws or acts under labour laws prevailing in their country. There are no laws that exclusively target whistle-blower protections only for those in the technology industry. Therefore Whistle-blowers in the technology industry are protected under laws that are made generally to protect whistle-blowers in all industries. Many countries have Whistleblower protection laws that only focus on public sector employees but corruption is not just done by public sector organisations but equally happening in private sector organisations.
United Nations has set a convention against corruption and then whistle-blowers protection and its need was recognised as a part of International law. The convention was signed by 140 nations and later approved by 137 nations. More than 60 countries have now adopted special protection laws for whistle-blowers, and the need for whistle-blower protection laws and steps toward adopting such laws is expanding worldwide. Countries like Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, India, New Zealand, the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa etc have dedicated national laws protecting whistle-blowers. The US already has whistle-blower reward laws through which whistle-blowers are rewarded and this encourages them to report fraud[5].
WHISTLEBLOWING IN INDIA: A BRIEF
Indian Whistleblowing marks its journey from Satyendra Dubey, an Indian whistle-blower who was project director of the National Highway Authority of India. He unveiled the inappropriate financial records in project operations.
In India before the enactment of the Whistle-blowers Act Whistle-blower protection policies were recognised under The Companies Act 2013. In the Companies Act 2013, Section 177(9) mentions that every listed company has to establish a vigil mechanism for their employees, Executives, and Directors to report genuine concerns in such manner as may be prescribed[6]. India has enacted The Whistle-blower Protection Act 2014[7], Which only concentrates on public employees. It aimed to receive corruption complaints, inquire about it, and protect the person making the complaint. However, this whistleblower protection act is not yet operational. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has hinted upon forming a whistleblower policy by the listed companies. To buoy up whistleblowers and whistleblowing, SEBI significantly increased prize money and rewards to be awarded to whistleblowers. It is very disappointing that there are no aid or Whistleblower protection laws for Private employees in India[8].
CONCLUSION
The new research studies say that whistleblowers are a sign of healthy companies. Whistleblowing establishes a check system in the technology industry, this promotes transparency in the tech industries and more user-friendly. Whistleblowing is necessary in the technology industry, In this epoch where people almost spend their day on social media and networking sites. It is easy for the technology giants to make money from people’s time. The technology industry has shaped privacy laws and regulations for its own benefits. Major tech giants such as Google, Facebook (Meta), Twitter etc have faced allegations. Whistleblowers all over the world face so many hardships like lack of job security, termination from jobs, and wild discrimination, finally, many of them end up in a lot of mental and physical torture, Thus the need for protecting them is rising. Blowing a whistle against an organisation is the symbol of strong opposition and disagreement and a shout-out to the public. The legal system should be more empowered to protect them more wisely.
Author(s) Name: K S Gouri Nandana (Mahatma Gandhi University)
References-
[1] David Banisar, ‘Whistleblowing: International Standards and Developments’(2011) CORRUPTION AND TRANSPARENCY: DEBATING THE FRONTIERS BETWEEN STATE, MARKET AND SOCIETY <https://ssrn.com/abstract=1753180> accessed 17 August 2024
[2] Scott Pelley, Interview with Frances Haugen, Former product manager of Facebook, (4 October 2021)
[3] Johana Bhuiyan, ‘Welcome to the Party”: Five Past Tech Whistleblowers on the Pitfalls of Speaking Out’ The Guardian (9 October 2021) <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/oct/08/tech-whistleblowers-facebook-frances-haugen-amazon-google-pinterest> accessed 18 august 2024
[4] ‘Silenced No More: A New Era of Tech Whistleblowing?’ BBC News (11 October 2021) <https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58850064> accessed 17 August 2024
[5] ‘Whistleblower Laws around the World’ (National Whistleblower Center) <https://www.whistleblowers.org/whistleblower-laws-around-the-world/> accessed 18 August 2024.
[6] The Companies Act 2013, s 177(9)
[7] The Whistleblower Protection Act 2014
[8] Anubhav Pandey, ‘Legal Framework and Regulations Protecting Whistle-Blowers in India’ (iPleaders, 9 August 2017) <https://blog.ipleaders.in/whistle-blowers-protection/> accessed on 19 August 2024
