Ethics of Whistleblowing

Syllabus: Applications of Ethics

Source: Th

Context: Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder, pleaded guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with the U.S. Justice Department, allowing him to avoid American prison and return to Australia.

The agreement required Assange to admit guilt to a single felony but considered his five years spent in a UK prison. Assange expressed mixed feelings about the outcome, while his lawyer highlighted concerns for press freedom. The case involved publishing classified documents and raising issues about national security and journalism.

Ethical issues in the WikiLeaks case:

• Public right to information vs. government need for confidentiality: Balancing citizens’ right to know about government actions and the government’s necessity to uphold confidentiality in matters of national security.

• Protection of whistle-blowers vs. national security: Safeguarding individuals who expose wrongdoing while considering threats to national security.

• Media responsibility in handling classified information: The media’s moral duty is to inform the public about government actions while handling dangerous or sensitive information responsibly.

Ethical values demonstrated by Julian Assange:

Julian Assange demonstrated ethical values of transparency and accountability by exposing government secrets and military misconduct, emphasizing the public’s right to know. He also highlighted the importance of press freedom and challenged the boundaries of journalistic responsibility in the digital age.

What is WikiLeaks?

WikiLeaks is a non-profit media organization and publisher of leaked documents, funded by donations and media partnerships. Founded in 2006 by Julian Assange, an Australian editor and activist, it has published classified documents from anonymous sources.

About Whistle-blowers:

Whistleblowing refers to calling attention to wrongdoing happening in an organization. Whistleblowing has to do with ethics because it represents a person’s understanding, at a deep level, that an action his or her organization is taking is harmful—that it interferes with people’s rights or is unfair or detracts from the common good.

Ethical issues with Whistleblowing:

Being disloyal towards an organization v/s sharing knowledge of wrongdoing for the benefit of others and moral commitment towards society. He may also gain mistrust of his fellow workers.

The values that are shown by whistle-blowers:

• Courage– It takes moral courage to stand against your organization and be ready to lose out on stability in one’s life.

• Self-sacrifice– They work for the public interest at the cost of themselves.

• Duty bound and respecting the law– However, there is a dilemma of breaching ethics by breaching the contract with the organization as well.

How can the government encourage whistle-blowing?

• Create a policy about reporting illegal or unethical practices Formal mechanisms for reporting violations, such as hotlines and mailboxes. Clear communications about the process of voicing concerns, such as a specific chain of command, or the identification of a specific person to handle complaints.

• Formal mechanisms for reporting violations, such as hotlines and mailboxes.

• Clear communications about the process of voicing concerns, such as a specific chain of command, or the identification of a specific person to handle complaints.

• Get endorsement of the policy from top officialsand publicize the organization’s commitment to the process.

• Elected and administrative leadership must encourage ethical behaviour and hold everyone within the organization to the highest standards, including the disclosure of activities that would have a negative impact on the public’s business.

• Investigate and follow up promptly on all allegations of misconduct. Report on these investigations to the council or board.

Indian Examples:

One well-known Indian whistle-blower was Satyendra Dubey, an IIT graduate working on a segment of the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) Golden Quadrilateral in Bihar, who wrote directly to the Prime Minister’s Office exposing corruption in the project. He paid with his life for doing so.

Legislations in India regarding Whistleblowing:

• The government introduced the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection Of Informers (PIDPI) Resolution for the logging of complaints against alleged corruption or misuse of office by a government officer or department.

• Whistle-blowers Protection Actis aimed at providing a legislative route for people to file complaints on alleged corruption and misuse of office by public servants. The act has not come into force, and the Rules for it have not been finalised.