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Whistleblowers Should Be Greater Protected

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Whistleblowing in the US has long been a controversial topic for many. Whistleblowers are people who work either as outsiders, like journalists, or insiders who uncover secrets from the inside of a corporation- who expose wrongdoings and secrets in the government or businesses. Being a whistleblower is risky business; reputations are put on the line and they commonly face legal trouble. While in the last century Congress has done more to protect these whistleblowers, many people are still on edge about the practice of whistleblowing and protecting it under laws. A big debate that has come to play is whether whistleblowers should be greater protected, or if they should be prosecuted by the law. Whistleblowing has in many instances been extremely helpful to US citizens, and here’s why it should be fully protected by the government. First off, whistleblowers are by definition someone who informs on an organization involved in illicit behavior- illicit meaning forbidden by law. In Gale’s Opposing …show more content…

Before all of these events, the 1912 Lloyd-LaFollette Act was already in place-which allowed employees to give that type of secret information to Congress. But when these more modern whistleblowers were constantly exposing information to the public, rather than just the Congress, more effective protection was called for. The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1997 protected them for all exposure and even prohibited retaliation. But the biggest achievements for whistleblowers were made by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, which required rewards for successful whistleblowers along with protection. With whistleblowers constantly risking their own lives and reputation to keep the public informed, it was finally time for them to get the thanks they deserved instead of

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