Whistleblowers Research Paper

Edward Snowden is responsible for exposing these government secrets. Many call this an act of treason, but it can also be seen as an act of civil disobedience. The most peaceful nature of his rebellion, and the unconstitutional behavior that it consequentially exposed qualify his actions. Although it was wrong of him to escape the consequences of his actions by fleeing to Hong Kong, his actions were ultimately beneficial to the American public. Being spied upon by the government is a direct violation of our right to privacy, and hiding it from the public is wrong as well. From John Cassidy’s article, “Why Edward Snowden is a hero,” he quotes Ellsberg; “‘This wholesale invasion of Americans and foreign citizens’ privacy does not contribute to our security; it puts in danger the very liberties we are trying to protect.’” The act of bringing these facts to light is an act of trying to preserve our liberty, and that’s what civil disobedience is all about.

Whistle blowing does take courage. There is the risk of being bullied or harassed as a result, but anyone who whistle blows has the right to protection from the person they have raised concerns about. If you suffer as a result of a whistle blowing incident the UK Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 offers legal protection.

In today’s society, there are many things that make it hard for white collar crimes to be exposed. One of the main problem portrayed within this movie was how easily the media was able to manipulate exactly what people were allowed to see. Secondly, white collar crimes can be hard to prove because many times major corporations will hire external help to go out and find information that could ruin the whistleblowers reputation. By doing this the whistleblowers credibility can be jeopardized making it easier for the corporation to continue to be seen as a reputable organization (The Insider).

In the case of the VA scandal many of the whistleblowers are scared about what will happen to them once the information is out there. “VA whistleblower reprisal cases received by OSC has been rising quickly, from 405 in fiscal 2013 to a projected 712 for fiscal 2015 – a 75 percent jump” (Davidson). The idea of the whistleblower is that the truth will be exposed and the problems will be fixed. When a whistleblower decides to come forward they are risking their jobs and how other people view them. According to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis) “The VA has a culture problem with whistleblower retaliation.” Basically Sen. Johnson is saying that if a person decides to come forward they are not guaranteed protection from retaliation by coworkers. Without these whistleblowers the VA scandal would not have come to light. The country never would have known about the falsifying of patient documents or the other problems facing the

For many whistleblowers, fear of persecution and retaliation has prevented them from speaking out against improper behaviors at their institutions. Because of the dangers that whistleblowers are exposed to, many companies have become proactive in promoting and protecting whistleblowing. As a case and point, we need to look no further than the banking giant, Barclays.

It has become extremely easy to transmit information almost instantly without any possible way to censor it quickly enough to keep it out of the public eye. Edward Snowden is an extreme in many examples of people using technology to civilly disobey. Whistleblowers however have created a serious new issue as to whether or not their actions go beyond civil disobedience into the realm of treason. People like Chelsea Manning, who released hundreds of thousands of sensitive documents illegally, could be seen fairly easily as a traitor rather than someone trying to do the right thing. The real question with whistleblowers is whether or not they have gone beyond disobeying the law to posing a clear and present danger to the American people. In the case of Edward Snowden, most would say no. In the case of Chelsea Manning, the results are fairly

Freedom of expression has almost always been and continues to be a defining characteristic of United States society and politics. The country was quite literally built on the idea of having basic freedoms in life. In fact, it was these same principles in which the United States operates around the world, beneath the guise of bringing the same values in other, less fortunate countries. Which only leads to emphasize the manner in which some so called freedoms are often challenged within the social and political spheres of the United States. Freedom of expression is not only an essential part of human rights but it is also important within the social and political institutions of the United States specifically. Therefore, not only are whistleblowers within their right when publishing material to a public forum, they are contributing to the public discourse on security, transparency, and civil liberties.

4). Edward Snowden to many is considered a whistle blower which is a person who informs people of organization or people doing illicit acts. One of the many results that Edwards Snowden acts caused some country’s to lose trust in the United States and are cautious of the United States spying on them.

The message from these whistleblowers carries tremendous credibility as they’ve sacrificed lucrative, prestigious careers, along with risking their reputations and freedom. On the other hand, the government has demonstrated that these top secret programs are untrustworthy. After all,

There are countless times in history when individuals have stood up for what is right against those committing wrongdoings. Standing up against your country’s wrongdoings; however, is the ultimate form of morality. In the span of this nation, there are few individuals with enough courage to report illegal and unconstitutional acts committed by the government. These individuals are known as whistle blowers. In 2004, a US Justice Office attorney by the name of Thomas Tamm took action by making an anonymous call to the New York Times about illegal government activity. Tamm’s call took a lot of guts and let US citizens know that their privacy will always be protected by those who do what is right.

Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (N.S.A) subcontractor turned whistle-blower is nothing short of a hero. His controversial decision to release information detailing the highly illegal ‘data mining’ practices of the N.S.A have caused shockwaves throughout the world and have raised important questions concerning how much the government actually monitors its people without their consent or knowledge. Comparable to Mark Felt in the Watergate scandals, Daniel Ellsberg with the Pentagon Papers, Edward Snowden joins the rank of infamous whistleblowers who gave up their jobs, livelihood, and forever will live under scrutiny of the public all in the service to the American people. Edward Snowden released information detailing the

Jackson and Raftos (1997) referred to whistle blowing as an avenue of last resort. Employees find themselves in these situations when the authorities at their organisations have failed to take actions on reported issues affecting that organisation. Wimot (2000) likened whistleblowing to a spectrum. At one end of this spectrum whistleblowing would only cause minimal pain and scars on the stakeholders and organisation while on the other end is the worst scenario where the whistleblowing effects are turbulent and often experienced to be negative to all those involved (ibid).

In early 2013 a man by the name of Edward Joseph Snowden began leaking classified National Security Agency (NSA) documents to media outlets, which in turn ended up in public ears. These documents, mainly involving intelligence Snowden acquired while working as an NSA contractor, are mostly related to global surveillance programs run by the NSA. This has raised multiple ethical issues ranging from national security, information privacy and the ethics behind whistleblowing in general. The reach and impact of these leaks have gone global and have put in question the very government that protects us as well as the extent of the public’s rights on privacy. Various foreign

unethical actions to someone in a position to stop that action and effect changes. The

Whistleblowers perform in many careers and are found at all levels of an organization: scientists and secretaries, lawyers and paralegals, managers and staff, security personnel and computer specialists, etc. They are as varied in age, ethnic background, education, profession, sex, and income as the population at large.