Kick-off possible
Whistleblower - a secret whistleblower
Imagine a soccer match in which a fan sends information to the referee to point out rule violations by his own team. Unthinkable, right? Not in politics and business. Whistleblowers are present there. It is important to them that the rules of the game are adhered to – even if the team does not always agree with them.
But whistleblowers often risk more than just the displeasure of the players. Sometimes they take a stand against powerful structures, expose wrongdoing and run the risk of losing their job, their reputation or even their personal safety. Their intervention is courageous, necessary and sometimes risky. But that is precisely why the whistleblower deserves our attention and protection.
With our whistleblowing system, we are happy to support your company in protecting internal whistleblowers.
Heroes of everyday life
Why do we need whistleblowers?
Whistleblowers play a key role by exposing unethical or illegal behavior to organizations that might otherwise go unnoticed. They protect the public from harm by bringing wrongdoing to light and demanding accountability. They can also bring about positive change by promoting accountability, transparency and ethical behavior.
Whistleblowers can therefore have a significant impact on organizations, often to their benefit:
- Preventing harm – for example by reporting unsafe working conditions
- Save costs – by disclosing fraud
- Increase public trust – if companies are willing to take responsibility and implement improvements
Known and anonymous whistleblowers
Examples of whistleblowers
Daniel Ellsberg was a pioneering whistleblower who exposed the lies of the US government under several presidents in relation to the Vietnam War with the publication of the “Pentagon Papers” in 1971. His evidence contributed to the end of the war and led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling in favor of freedom of the press. Today, the Ellsberg Whistleblower Award is presented in his memory.
Edward Snowden is probably the world’s most famous whistleblower to date. The former NSA employee published secret documents about global surveillance by authorities. In doing so, he uncovered massive intrusions into the privacy of millions of people and sparked a broad discussion about data protection and state power.
But not every whistleblower becomes famous worldwide. And that’s a good thing. At best, a whistleblower should be able to provide information anonymously, which is then followed up. You won’t find the names of people who report theft by colleagues in their company on a published list. Nor will the employee who reports the sexual abuse of a trainee by her superior. Bullying, drug use, damage to property, falsification of documents or the improper handling of personal data – these are all things that a company or organization does not want to be associated with. But to stop them, they first need to know about them.
Nevertheless, every whistleblower risks a lot. You already know this from school – nobody wants to look like a tattletale or question the teacher who can give you an F afterwards. So when asked whether a whistleblower law is necessary to protect whistleblowers, the answer should always be yes. One step that companies take in this context is to introduce a whistleblower system that employees can trust. Whistleblower-Gesetz
Whistleblower Act
In which countries are whistleblowers protected by law?
The protection of whistleblowers is regulated very differently around the world. In the European Union, member states are obliged to transpose the EU Directive 2019/1937 into national law. Not all countries have implemented this directive on time, but it is in progress. In Germany, the Whistleblower Protection Act applies based on this directive. Outside the EU, countries such as Malaysia, South Korea, New Zealand, Israel, Norway, Canada and India have specific whistleblower protection laws. In Russia, whistleblowers often report retaliation, but there is a corresponding protection law. The global landscape of whistleblower protection is therefore very uneven: some nations have implemented progressive laws, while others are still lagging.
It is precisely this lack of uniformity that often makes it difficult for people to take the step and become whistleblowers. Who would blow the whistle against their own team while sitting in the fan block? Whistleblowers are the silent heroes of our time – sometimes respected, often treated with hostility, but always courageous. They blow the whistle when others would rather not, and risk everything to keep the rules of the game fair. Whether on the big stage of world politics or in the small dramas of everyday working life – one thing is certain: without whistleblowers, there would be many dark secrets that would never come to light.
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