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99-840: The Courage Foundation is an international organisation based in Germany, the UK and the US that supports whistleblowers and journalists by fundraising for their legal defence. Founded on August 9, 2013, as the Journalistic Source Protection Defence Fund by Gavin MacFadyen , Barbora Bukovska and Julian Assange it later rebranded in June 2014. WikiLeaks section editor Sarah Harrison served as acting director from 2014 until April 2017, when WikiLeaks became

198-626: A "Whistleblower Protection Directive" containing broad free speech protections for whistleblowers in both the public and the private sectors, including for journalists, in all member states of the European Union . The Directive prohibits direct or indirect retaliation against employees, current and former, in the public sector and the private sector. The Directive's protections apply to employees, to volunteers, and to those who assist them, including to civil society organizations and to journalists who report on their evidence. In October 2021,

297-845: A Courage beneficiary and Naomi Colvin began serving as director. Colvin served as director until 2018. The trustees include Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg , former NSA executive Thomas Drake , former MI5 British intelligence officer and whistleblower Annie Machon , Vice President of the Wau Holland Foundation Andy Müller-Maguhn , Guatemala human rights lawyer Renata Ávila , and some members of Pussy Riot . The Courage Foundation supports Julian Assange and WikiLeaks . The Courage Foundation supported Edward Snowden ( NSA whistleblower), Jeremy Hammond ( Stratfor hacktivist ), Matt DeHart , Lauri Love and Chelsea Manning . The Courage trustees are Susan Benn, and John Pilger . Renata Ávila

396-475: A change in which people communicate with others as well as receive information. About 53% use social media to read/watch the news. Many people use the information specifically from social media influencers to understand more about a topic, business, or organization. Social media has now been made part of everyday news production for journalists around the world. Not only does social media provide more connection between readers and journalists, but it also cultivates

495-425: A claim or narrative. A case involving the scientific community engaging in research fraudulence is that of Dr. Cyril Burt . Dr Cyril Burt was a British psychologist who proposed that he had discovered a heritable factor for intelligence based on studying twins. Dr. Oliver Gillie , a former colleague of Dr. Burt, inquired about Dr. Burt’s work, doubting the authenticity of the data and the certain twins that Dr. Burt

594-399: A climate whereby employees are more likely to report or seek guidance regarding potential or actual wrongdoing without fear of retaliation. The coming anti-bribery management systems standard, ISO 37001 , includes anonymous reporting as one of the criteria for the new standard. External whistleblowers report misconduct to outside people or entities. In these cases, depending on the nature of

693-547: A commitment, of the law or regulations, or a serious threat or harm to general interest, which he or she has become personally aware of. " It excludes certain professional secrets such as national defense secrecy, medical secrecy or the secrecy of relations between a lawyer and his client. In 2022, two laws are passed to transpose the European Directive 2019/1937 of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law. One of them strengthens

792-451: A communication method to aid in scientific research and create interaction. The narrative, layout, and gaming features all share a relationship that can deliver meaning and value that make games an innovative communication tool. Research-focused games showed a connection towards a greater usage of dialogue within the science community as players had the opportunity to address issues with a game with themselves and scientists. This helped to push

891-441: A decrease in diversity of content and views in certain countries due to actions made against broadcasters by states via their licensing authorities. This can have an impact on competition and may lead to an excessive concentration of power with potential influence on public opinion. Examples include the failure to renew or retain licenses for editorially critical media, reducing the regulator's competences and mandates for action, and

990-414: A firmer academic basis in virtue ethics . It is likely that many people do not even consider whistleblowing not only because of fear of retaliation but also because of fear of losing relationships both at and outside work. Persecution of whistleblowers has become a serious issue in many parts of the world: Employees in academia, business or government might become aware of serious risks to health and

1089-451: A good-faith report of a whistleblowing action or cooperating in any way in an investigation, proceeding, or lawsuit arising under said action. Federal whistleblower legislation includes a statute protecting all government employees. In the federal civil service, the government is prohibited from taking, or threatening to take, any personnel action against an employee because the employee disclosed information that they reasonably believed showed

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1188-477: A lack of due process in the adoption of regulatory decisions. Governments worldwide have sought to extend regulation to internet companies, whether connectivity providers or application service providers , and whether domestically or foreign-based. The impact on journalistic content can be severe, as internet companies can err too much on the side of caution and take down news reports, including algorithmically, while offering inadequate opportunities for redress to

1287-464: A manager or to external factors, such as their lawyer or the police. Whistleblowing in the private sector is typically not high-profile or openly discussed in major news outlets, though occasionally, third parties expose human rights violations and exploitation of workers. Many governments attempt to protect such whistleblowers. In the United States, for example, there are organizations such as

1386-418: A method to prevent the concentration of media ownership. Licensing has been criticized for an alleged lack of transparency . Regulatory authorities in certain countries have been accused of exhibiting political bias in favor of the government or ruling party, which has resulted in some prospective broadcasters being denied licenses or being threatened with license withdrawal. As a consequence, there has been

1485-612: A motivating forces. A 2012 study shows that individuals are more likely to blow the whistle when others know about the wrongdoing, because they fear the consequences of keeping silent. In cases where one person is responsible for wrongdoing, the whistleblower may file a formal report, rather than directly confronting the wrongdoer, because confrontation would be more emotionally and psychologically stressful. Furthermore, individuals may be motivated to report unethical behavior when they believe their organizations will support them. Professionals in management roles may feel responsibility to blow

1584-768: A protected disclosure, and the permissible methods of presenting a disclosure. Whistleblowing can occur in the private sector or the public sector. Whistleblowers often face retaliation for their disclosure, including termination of employment. Several other actions may also be considered retaliatory, including unreasonable increase in workloads, reduction of hours, preventing task completion, mobbing or bullying. Laws in many countries attempt to provide protection for whistleblowers and regulate whistleblowing activities. These laws tend to adopt different approaches to public and private sector whistleblowing. Whistleblowers do not always achieve their aims; for their claims to be credible and successful, they must have compelling evidence so that

1683-458: A result of litigation regarding harms such as unfair dismissal, which they often face with little or no support from unions. Whistleblowers who continue to pursue their concerns may also face long battles with official bodies such as regulators and government departments. Such bodies may reproduce the "institutional silence" adopted by employers, adding to whistleblowers' stress and difficulties. Thus, whistleblowers often suffer great injustice that

1782-1221: A result of whistleblowing. Revealing a whistleblower's identity can automatically put their life in danger. Some media outlets associate words like "traitor" and "treason" with whistleblowers, and in many countries around the world, the punishment for treason is the death penalty , even if whoever allegedly committed treason may not have caused anyone physical harm. In some instances, whistleblowers must flee their country to avoid public scrutiny, threats of death or physical harm, and in some cases criminal charges. Whistleblowers are often protected under law from employer retaliation, but in many cases, punishment such as termination , suspension , demotion , wage garnishment , and/or harsh mistreatment by other employees occurs. A 2009 study found that up to 38% of whistleblowers experienced professional retaliation in some form, including wrongful termination. Following dismissal, whistleblowers may struggle to find employment due to damaged reputations, poor references, and blacklisting . The socioeconomic impact of whistleblowing through loss of livelihood and family strain may also impact whistleblowers' psychological well-being. Whistleblowers often experience immense stress as

1881-430: A sense of belonging through the screen. Gaming is an activity shared amongst others regardless of age, allowing for a diverse group of players to connect and enjoy their favorite games with. This helps with creating or maintaining relationships: friendships, family, or a significant other. As with most interactive media content, games have ratings to assist in choosing appropriate games regarding younger audiences. This

1980-717: A sharp decline in ethical practices, as opposed to a gradual worsening. There are generally two metrics by which whistleblowers determine if a practice is unethical . The first metric involves a violation of the organization's bylaws or written ethical policies. These violations allow individuals to concretize and rationalize blowing the whistle. On the other hand, "value-driven" whistleblowers are influenced by their personal codes of ethics or by public service motivation which comes from an alignment of personal, cultural and organisational values. In these cases, whistleblowers have been criticized for being driven by personal biases. In addition to ethics, social and organizational pressure are

2079-419: A specific goal, adjusting how data is shown or explained, looking at data in a biased manner, and leaving out parts about data analysis and conclusions. Dr. Paolo Macchiarini is well-known within the scientific community as a thoracic surgeon and former regenerative researcher. Dr Macchiarini claimed to have made profound advancements in trachea transplantation by using synthetic tracheal scaffolds planted with

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2178-646: A story is genuine or not. There have also been broader initiatives bringing together a variety of donors and actors to promote fact-checking and news literacy , such as the News Integrity Initiative at the City University of New York 's School of Journalism. This 14 million USD investment by groups including the Ford Foundation and Facebook was launched in 2017 so its full impact remains to be seen. It will, however, complement

2277-428: A support for media freedom and development organizations by intergovernmental organizations such as UNESCO and non-governmental organizations . There has been a continued trend of establishing self-regulatory bodies, such as press councils, in conflict and post-conflict situations. Major internet companies have responded to pressure by governments and the public by elaborating self-regulatory and complaints systems at

2376-441: A topic called guerrilla government. "Rather than acting openly, guerrillas often choose to remain "in the closet", moving clandestinely behind the scenes, salmon swimming upstream against the current of power. Over the years, I have learned that the motivations driving guerrillas are diverse. The reasons for acting range from the altruistic (doing the right thing) to the seemingly petty (I was passed over for that promotion). Taken as

2475-481: A variety of internal or external channels to communicate information or allegations. Over 83% of whistleblowers report internally to a supervisor, human resources , compliance , or a neutral third party within the company, hoping that the company will address and correct the issues. A whistleblower can also bring allegations to light by communicating with external entities, such as the media , government, or law enforcement. Some countries legislate as to what constitutes

2574-532: A violation of law, gross mismanagement, and gross waste of funds, abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public safety or health. To prevail on a claim, a federal employee must show that a protected disclosure was made, that the accused official knew of the disclosure, that retaliation resulted, and that there was a genuine connection between the retaliation and the employee's action. Research fraud involves data, processes, or observations that were never there to begin with or later added on to fit

2673-944: A wall of silence and hostility by management or colleagues. Depression is often reported by whistleblowers, and suicidal thoughts may occur in up to about 10%. General deterioration in health and self care has been described. The range of symptomatology shares many of the features of posttraumatic stress disorder , though there is debate about whether the trauma experienced by whistleblowers meets diagnostic thresholds. Increased stress -related physical illness has also been described in whistleblowers. The stresses involved in whistleblowing can be huge and may deter whistleblowing out of fear of failure and reprisals. Some whistleblowers speak of overwhelming and persistent distress, drug and alcohol problems, paranoid behavior at work, acute anxiety , nightmares , flashbacks , and intrusive thoughts . This fear may indeed be justified because an individual who feels threatened by whistleblowing may plan

2772-455: A wall of silence, and prevent any organization from experiencing the improvements that may be afforded by intelligent failure. Some whistleblowers who break ranks with their organizations have had their mental stability questioned, such as Adrian Schoolcraft , the NYPD veteran who alleged falsified crime statistics in his department and was forcibly committed to a mental institution. Conversely,

2871-456: A whole, their acts are as awe inspiring as saving human lives out of a love of humanity and as trifling as slowing the issuance of a report out of spite or anger." For example, of the more than 1,000 whistleblower complaints that are filed each year with the Pentagon's Inspector General , about 97 percent are not substantiated. It is believed throughout the professional world that an individual

2970-792: Is being spread.  Instagram works with these fact checkers to ensure that no false information is being spread around the site. Instagram started this work in 2019, following Facebook with the idea as they started fact checking in 2016. Developments in telecommunications has provided media the ability to conduct long-distance communication via analog and digital media: Modern communication media includes long-distance exchanges between larger numbers of people ( many-to-many communication via email , Internet forums , and telecommunications ports ). Traditional broadcast media and mass media favor one-to-many communication (television, cinema , radio, newspaper , magazines , and social media ). Electronic Media, specifically social media has become one of

3069-581: Is believed to influence children's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. The usage and consumption of gaming has tremendously increased within the last decade with estimates of around 2.3 billion people from around the world playing digital and online video games. The growth rate for the global market for gaming was expected to grow 6.2% towards 2020. Areas like Latin America had a 20.1% increase, Asia-Pacific - 9.2%, North America - 4.0%, and Europe -11.7%. Studies show that digital and online gaming can be used as

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3168-419: Is bound to secrecy within their work sector. Discussions of whistleblowing and employee loyalty usually assume that the concept of loyalty is irrelevant to the issue or more commonly, that whistleblowing involves a moral choice that pits the loyalty that an employee owes an employer against the employee's responsibility to serve the public interest. Robert A. Larmer describes the standard view of whistleblowing in

3267-403: Is done by ESRB ratings and consists of the following: E for Everyone, E for Everyone 10+, T for Teen, and M for Mature 17+. Whenever a new game is released, it is reviewed by associations to determine a suitable rating so younger audiences do not consume harmful or inappropriate content. With these ratings it helps the risks and effects of gaming on younger audiences because the exposure of media

3366-461: Is less likely. There are examples of "early warning scientists" being harassed for bringing inconvenient truths about impending harm to the notice of the public and authorities. There have also been cases of young scientists being discouraged from entering controversial scientific fields for fear of harassment . In order to help whistleblowers, private organizations have formed whistleblower legal defense funds or support groups. Examples include

3465-475: Is never acknowledged or rectified. In a few cases, however, harm is done by the whistleblower to innocent people. Whistleblowers can make unintentional mistakes, and investigations can be tainted by the fear of negative publicity. An example occurred in the Canadian health ministry , when a new employee wrongly concluded that nearly every research contract she saw in 2012 involved malfeasance. The end result

3564-460: Is said to have coined the phrase in the early 1970s in order to avoid the negative connotations found in other words such as "informer" and "snitch". However, the origins of the word date back to the 19th century. The word is linked to the use of a whistle to alert the public or a crowd about such problems as the commission of a crime or the breaking of rules during a game. The phrase whistle blower attached itself to law enforcement officials in

3663-567: Is the most basic of ethical traits and simply telling the truth to stop illegal harmful activities or fraud against the government/taxpayers. In the opposite camp, many corporations and corporate or government leaders see whistleblowing as being disloyal for breaching confidentiality, especially in industries that handle sensitive client or patient information. Hundreds of laws grant protection to whistleblowers, but stipulations can easily cloud that protection and leave them vulnerable to retaliation and sometimes even threats and physical harm. However,

3762-596: Is to enhance public confidence in Canada's federal public institutions and in the integrity of public servants. Mandated by the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act , PSIC is a permanent and independent agent of Parliament . The act, which came into force in 2007, applies to most of the federal public sector , approximately 400,000 public servants . This includes government departments and agencies, parent Crown corporations,

3861-453: The Journal of Business Ethics by explaining that an employee possesses prima facie (based on the first impression; accepted as correct until proved otherwise) duties of loyalty and confidentiality to their employers and that whistleblowing cannot be justified except on the basis of a higher duty to the public good . It is important to recognize that in any relationship which demands loyalty

3960-563: The National Whistleblower Center in the United States and Whistleblowers UK and Public Concern at Work (PCaW) in the United Kingdom. Depending on the circumstances, it is not uncommon for whistleblowers to be ostracized by their coworkers, discriminated against by future potential employers, or even fired from their organization. A campaign directed at whistleblowers with the goal of eliminating them from

4059-607: The Persian Empire ( Chapar Khaneh and Angarium ) and Roman Empire , can be interpreted as early forms of media. Writers such as Howard Rheingold have framed early forms of human communication, such as the Lascaux cave paintings and early writing, as early forms of media. Another framing of the history of media starts with the Chauvet Cave paintings and continues with other ways to carry human communication beyond

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4158-489: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other federal public sector bodies. Not all disclosures lead to an investigation as the act sets out the jurisdiction of the commissioner and gives the option not to investigate under certain circumstances. On the other hand, if PSIC conducts an investigation and finds no wrongdoing was committed, the commissioner must report his findings to the discloser and to

4257-487: The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights , impacts on the presence of independent journalism by defining the limits of what should or should not be carried and prioritized in the most popular digital spaces. Public pressure on technology giants has motivated the development of new strategies aimed not only at identifying ' fake news ', but also at eliminating some of

4356-665: The United States Department of Labor (DOL) and laws such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations (FSGO) that protect whistleblowers in the private sector. Thus, despite government efforts to help regulate the private sector, the employees must still weigh their options. They either expose the company and stand the moral and ethical high ground; or expose

4455-403: The radio frequency spectrum was public property . This prohibited private organizations from owning any portion of the spectrum. A broadcast license is typically given to broadcasters by communications regulators, allowing them to broadcast on a certain frequency and typically in a specific geographical location. Licensing is done by regulators in order to manage a broadcasting medium and as

4554-469: The "Sapin 2 Law") provides for the first time a single legal definition of whistleblowers in France. It defines him or her as " an individual who discloses or reports, in a disinterested manner and in good faith, a crime or an offence, a serious and manifest breach of an international commitment duly ratified or approved by France, a unilateral act of an international organization adopted on the basis of such

4653-403: The 1960s for people who revealed wrongdoing, such as Nader. It eventually evolved into the compound word whistleblower . Most whistleblowers are internal whistleblowers, who report misconduct on a fellow employee or superior within their company through anonymous reporting mechanisms often called hotlines . Within such situations, circumstances and factors can cause a person to either act on

4752-536: The 19th century because they used a whistle to alert the public or fellow police. Sports referees , who use a whistle to indicate an illegal or foul play , also were called whistle blowers. An 1883 story in Wisconsin's Janesville Gazette called a policeman who used his whistle to alert citizens about a riot a whistle blower , without the hyphen. By the year 1963, the phrase had become a hyphenated word, whistle-blower . The word began to be used by journalists in

4851-763: The EU Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, Equality and the Rule of Law emphasized that ministries, as legal entities in the public sector, are also explicitly required to establish internal reporting channels for their employees. It provides equal rights for whistleblowers in the national security sector who challenge denial or removal of their security clearances . Also, whistleblowers are protected from criminal prosecution and corporate lawsuits for damages resulting from their whistleblowing and provided with psychological support for dealing with harassment stress. Good government observers have hailed

4950-461: The EU directive as setting "the global standard for best practice rights protecting freedom of speech where it counts the most—challenging abuses of power that betray the public trust ," according to the U.S.-based Government Accountability Project . They have noted, however, that ambiguities remain in the directive regarding application in some areas, such as "duty speech", that is, when employees report

5049-541: The English Misplaced Pages, this section emphasizes the English-speaking world and covers other regimes only insofar as they represent exceptionally greater or lesser protections. There are laws in a number of states. The former Australian intelligence officer known as Witness K , who provided evidence of Australia's controversial spying operation against the government of East Timor in 2004, face

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5148-643: The Statement of Concern at the same time as "Berlin Group 21", which was allegedly created as a front for the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media . Whelan later leaked OPCW documents to WikiLeaks. In 2018, three of the trustees decided to remove Barrett Brown from the Courage Foundation's beneficiary list over "nasty adversarial remarks" he had made about Julian Assange, and a decision

5247-654: The access of programmers to satellite transponders in parts of the Western Europe , North America , the Arab region and in Asia and the Pacific . The Arab Satellite Broadcasting Charter was an example of efforts to bring formal standards and some regulatory authority to bear on what is transmitted, but it appears to not have been implemented. Self-regulation is expressed as a preferential system by journalists but also as

5346-653: The adverse post-operational effects, and complications of the surgery. Patients experienced severe health problems; several died post-surgery. The acts of Dr. Macchiarini led to the retractions of research articles from the Lancet , the termination of his academic positions, and criminal inquiries in Sweden. It also sparked concerns over the supervision and control of clinical trials utilizing experimental techniques. Individual harm, damage to public trust, and threats to national security are three categories of harm that may come as

5445-451: The affected news producers. In Western Europe , self-regulation provides an alternative to state regulatory authorities. In such contexts, newspapers have historically been free of licensing and regulation, and there has been repeated pressure for them to self-regulate or at least to have in-house ombudsmen . However, it has often been difficult to establish meaningful self-regulatory entities. In many cases, self-regulations exists in

5544-966: The career destruction of the "complainant" by reporting fictitious errors or rumors. This technique, labelled as " gaslighting ", is a common approach used by organizations to manage employees who cause difficulty by raising concerns. In extreme cases, this technique involves the organization or manager proposing that the complainant's mental health is unstable. Organizations also often attempt to ostracize and isolate whistleblowers by undermining their concerns by suggesting that they are groundless, carrying out inadequate investigations, or ignoring them altogether. Whistleblowers may also be disciplined, suspended, and reported to professional bodies upon manufactured pretexts. Such extreme experiences of threat and loss inevitably cause severe distress and sometimes mental illness, sometimes lasting for years afterwards. This mistreatment also deters others from coming forward with concerns. Thus, poor practices remain hidden behind

5643-450: The case of requests from governments. At the same time, however, the study signaled a number of companies that have become more opaque when it comes to disclosing how they enforce their own terms of service, in restricting certain types of content and account. State governments can also use "Fake news" in order to spread propaganda. In addition to responding to pressure for more clearly defined self-regulatory mechanisms, and galvanized by

5742-593: The company or to blow the whistle on the company's wrongdoing. Discussions on whistleblowing generally revolve around three topics: attempts to define whistleblowing more precisely, debates about whether and when whistleblowing is permissible, and debates about whether and when one has an obligation to blow the whistle. Many whistleblowers have stated that they were motivated to take action to put an end to unethical practices after witnessing injustices in their businesses or organizations. A 2009 study found that whistleblowers are often motivated to take action when they notice

5841-469: The company, lose their job, their reputation and potentially the ability to be employed again. According to a study at the University of Pennsylvania , out of three hundred whistleblowers studied, sixty-nine percent had foregone that exact situation and were either fired or forced to retire after taking the ethical high ground. It is outcomes like these that make it all that much harder to accurately track

5940-461: The day he was due to give deposition testimony as a whistleblower against aerospace company Boeing , and David Kelly , who was found dead two days after the UK parliamentary Intelligence and Security and Foreign Affairs Select Committees publicized that he would be called about the dubious claims used to convince the UK Parliament to vote to invade Iraq. U.S. civic activist Ralph Nader

6039-477: The debates over so-called 'fake news', internet companies such as Facebook have launched campaigns to educate users about how to more easily distinguish between 'fake news' and real news sources. Ahead of the United Kingdom national election in 2017 , for example, Facebook published a series of advertisements in newspapers with 'Tips for Spotting False News' which suggested 10 things that might signal whether

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6138-467: The decision and action has become far more complicated with recent advancements in technology and communication. The ethical implications of whistleblowing can be negative as well as positive. Some have argued that public sector whistleblowing plays an important role in the democratic process by resolving principal–agent problems . However, sometimes employees may blow the whistle as an act of revenge. Rosemary O'Leary explains this in her short volume on

6237-443: The emotional strain of a whistleblower investigation is devastating to the accused's family. Ethics is the set of moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior. Deeper questions and theories of whistleblowing and why people choose to do so can be studied through an ethical approach. Whistleblowing is a topic of several myths and inaccurate definitions. Leading arguments in the ideological camp maintain that whistleblowing

6336-439: The environment, but internal policies might pose threats of retaliation to those who report these early warnings. Private company employees in particular might be at risk of being fired, demoted, denied raises and so on for bringing environmental risks to the attention of appropriate authorities. Government employees could be at a similar risk for bringing threats to health or the environment to public attention, although perhaps this

6435-469: The eventual retraction of Dr. Burt’s work. Data manipulation is the changing or omitting of data or outcomes in such a way that the research is not accurately portrayed in the research record. Dr. Hwang Woo-Suk , a South Korean stem cell researcher gained international recognition for his groundbreaking work on cloning and stem cell research. Dr. Woo-Suk had a claim to successfully clone human embryos and derived patient-specific stem cell lines, forwarding

6534-447: The field of regenerative medicine which was published in the Journal of Science . Dr. Kim Seon-Jung expressed his concerns regarding the accuracy of the research data and the ethical conduct of the experiments. Independent committees, as well as journalists, scrutinized the research data and methodology leading to an eventual retraction of his work. Ethical violations can fall under the following: altering or making up new data to meet

6633-530: The good of society. People who choose to act as whistleblowers often suffer retaliation from their employer. They most likely are fired because they are an at-will employee , which means they can be fired without a reason. There are exceptions in place for whistleblowers who are at-will employees. Even without a statute, numerous decisions encourage and protect whistleblowing on grounds of public policy. Statutes state that an employer shall not take any adverse employment actions against any employee in retaliation for

6732-629: The government or regulating body can investigate them and hold corrupt companies and/or government agencies to account. To succeed, they must also persist in their efforts over what can often be years, in the face of extensive, coordinated and prolonged efforts that institutions can deploy to silence, discredit, isolate, and erode their financial and mental wellbeing. Whistleblowers have been likened to ‘Prophets at work’, but many lose their jobs, are victims of campaigns to discredit and isolate them, suffer financial and mental pressures, and some lose their lives. Such examples include John Barnett , who died on

6831-476: The identity of the whistleblower, these services are designed to inform the individuals at the top of the organizational pyramid of misconduct, usually via integration with specialized case management software . Implementing a third-party solution is often the easiest way for an organization to promote compliance, or to offer a whistleblowing policy where one did not previously exist. An increasing number of companies and authorities use third-party services in which

6930-502: The individual company level, using principles they have developed under the framework of the Global Network Initiative . The Global Network Initiative has grown to include several large telecom companies alongside internet companies such as Google , Facebook and others, as well as civil society organizations and academics. The European Commission 's 2013 publication, ICT Technology Sector Guide on Implementing

7029-440: The information, whistleblowers may report the misconduct to lawyers, the media, law enforcement or watchdog agencies , or other local, state, or federal agencies. In some cases, external whistleblowing is encouraged by offering monetary rewards. Sometimes organizations use external agencies to create a secure and anonymous reporting channel for their employees, often referred to as a whistleblowing hotline. In addition to protecting

7128-569: The mid-1960s, the term had spread to general use in North America and the United Kingdom. According to H. L. Mencken , the phrase mass media was used as early as 1923 in the United States. The term medium (the singular form of media ) is defined as "one of the means or channels of general communication, information, or entertainment in society, as newspapers, radio, or television." The role of regulatory authorities (license broadcaster institutions, content providers , platforms) and

7227-728: The offerings of other networks such as the International Fact-Checking Network launched by the Poynter Institute in 2015 which seeks to outline the parameters of the field. Instagram has also created a way to potentially expose "fake news" that is posted on the site. After looking into the site, it seemed as more than a place for political memes, but a weaponized platform, instead of the creative space it used to be. Since that, Instagram has started to put warning labels on certain stories or posts if third-party fact checkers believe that false information

7326-421: The organization is referred to as mobbing . It is an extreme form of workplace bullying wherein the group is set against the targeted individual. There is limited research on the psychological impacts of whistle blowing. However, poor experiences with whistleblowing can cause a prolonged and prominent assault on the well-being of the whistleblower. As workers attempt to address concerns, they are often met with

7425-823: The organization's chief executive. Also, reports of founded wrongdoing are presented before the House of Commons and the Senate in accordance with the act. The act also established the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal (PSDPT) to protect public servants by hearing reprisal complaints referred by the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner . The tribunal can grant remedies in favour of complainants and order disciplinary action against persons who take reprisals. The European Parliament approved

7524-403: The other. Speaking out is difficult, especially in a culture where this is not promoted or even actively discouraged. Some academics (such as Thomas Faunce ) feel that whistleblowers should at least be entitled to a rebuttable presumption that they are attempting to apply ethical principles in the face of obstacles and that whistleblowing would be more respected in governance systems if it had

7623-671: The participation and community amongst technical communicators and their audiences, clients, and stakeholders. The gaming community has grown exponentially, and about 63% have taken to playing with others, whether online or in-person. Players online will communicate through the system of microphone applicability either through the game or a third party application such as Discord . The improvements upon connectivity and software allowed for players online to keep in touch and game instantaneously, disregarding location almost entirely. With online gaming platforms it has been noted that they support diverse social gaming communities allowing players to feel

7722-400: The patient’s own stem cells. The goal was that the stem cells would eventually provide the patient with a suitable replacement trachea. Dr. Karl-Henrik Grinnemo, a member of Dr. Machiarini’s research team, raised concerns about the accuracy of the reported results and the ethical conduct of the experiments. Dr. Macchiarini’s ethical violations include exaggeration of success, failure to disclose

7821-543: The possibility of jail if convicted. Whistleblowers Australia is an association for those who have exposed corruption or any form of malpractice, especially if they were then hindered or abused. The Public Sector Integrity Commissioner (PSIC) provides a safe and confidential mechanism enabling public servants and the general public to disclose wrongdoings committed in the public sector. It also protects from reprisal public servants who have disclosed wrongdoing and those who have cooperated in investigations. The office's goal

7920-505: The prevalence of whistleblowing in the private sector. Public sector whistleblowing is connected to the concept of public service motivation , where a public servant's altruistic alignment to the people or communities they service overrides their adherence to their employer's rules. This connection has been demonstrated by research in many different countries, including the Poland, Thailand and United States of America. Recognition of

8019-465: The relationship works both ways and involves mutual enrichment. The ethics of Edward Snowden's actions have been widely discussed and debated in news media and academia worldwide. Snowden released classified intelligence to the American people in an attempt to allow Americans to see the inner workings of the government. A person is diligently tasked with the conundrum of choosing to be loyal to

8118-468: The resistance to political and commercial interference in the autonomy of the media sector are both considered as significant components of media independence . In order to ensure media independence, regulatory authorities should be placed outside of governments' directives. This can be measured through legislation, agency statutes and rules. In the United States, the Radio Act of 1927 established that

8217-586: The role of the Défenseur des droits - the French ombudsman - tasked with advising and protecting whistleblowers. The second amends the Sapin 2 law to bring it into line with the directive and adds substantial guarantees not included in the directive among which: Media (communication) The development of early writing and paper enabling longer-distance communication systems such as mail , including in

8316-401: The same information in the course of a job assignment, for example, to a supervisor, instead of whistleblowing as formal dissent . In fact, duty speech is how the overwhelming majority of whistleblowing information gets communicated and where the free flow of information is needed for an organization's proper functioning. However it is in response to such "duty speech" employee communication that

8415-526: The shadow of state regulation, and is conscious of the possibility of state intervention . In many countries in Central and Eastern Europe , self-regulatory structures seems to be lacking or have not historically been perceived as efficient and effective. The rise of satellite channels that delivered directly to viewers, or through cable or online systems, renders much larger the sphere of unregulated programing. There are, however, varying efforts to regulate

8514-504: The short range of voice: smoke signals , trail markers , and sculpture . In its modern application, the term media is relating to communication channels was first used by Canadian communications theorist Marshall McLuhan , who stated in Counterblast (1954): "The media are not toys; they should not be in the hands of Mother Goose and Peter Pan executives. They can be entrusted only to new artists because they are art forms." By

8613-453: The spot to prevent/stop illegal and unacceptable behavior, or report it. There are some reasons to believe that people are more likely to take action with respect to unacceptable behavior, within an organization, if there are complaint systems that offer not just options dictated by the planning and control organization, but a choice of options for absolute confidentiality. Anonymous reporting mechanisms, as mentioned previously, help foster

8712-732: The structural causes of their emergence and proliferation. Facebook has created new buttons for users to report content they believe is false, following previous strategies aimed at countering hate speech and harassment online . These changes reflect broader transformations occurring among tech giants to increase their transparency. As indicated by the Ranking Digital Rights Corporate Accountability Index, most large internet companies have reportedly become relatively more forthcoming in terms of their policies about transparency in regard to third party requests to remove or access content, especially in

8811-449: The top forms of media that people use in the twenty-first century. The percent of people that use social media and social networking outlets rose dramatically from 5% in 2005 to 79% in 2019. Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , Tiktok , and Facebook are the most commonly used social media platforms. The average time that an individual spends on social media is 2.5 hours a day. This exponential increase of social media has additionally caused

8910-427: The total $ 14,000 that had been donated to Courage for him. Renata Ávila called Brown's comments "disloyal and unacceptable." Whistleblowers Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing ) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whistleblowers can use

9009-493: The understanding of how gaming and players can help advance scientific research via communication through games. A vBook is an eBook that is digital first media with embedded video , images , graphs , tables , text , and other useful media. E-Book An E-book combines reading and listening media interaction. It is compact and can store a large amount of data which has made them very popular in classrooms. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

9108-813: The value of public sector whistleblowing has been growing over the last 50 years. Many jurisdictions have passed legislation to protect public service whistleblowing in part as a way to address unethical behaviour and corruption within public service agencies. In the United States, for example, both state and Federal statutes have been put in place to protect whistleblowers from retaliation. The United States Supreme Court ruled that public sector whistleblowers are protected from retaliation by their First Amendment rights. After many federal whistleblowers were covered in high-profile media cases, laws were finally introduced to protect government whistleblowers. These laws were enacted to help prevent corruption and encourage people to expose misconduct, illegal, or dishonest activity for

9207-648: The vast majority of retaliation against employees occurs. These observers have noted that the Directive must be understood as applying to protection against retaliation for such duty speech because without such an understanding the Directive will "miss the iceberg of what's needed". In France , several recent laws have established a protection regime for whistleblowers. Prior to 2016, there were several laws in force which created disparate legislation with sector-specific regimes. The 2016 law on transparency, fight against corruption and modernization of economic life (known as

9306-602: The whistle to uphold the values and rules of their organizations. Legal protection for whistleblowers varies from country to country and may depend on the country of the original activity, where and how secrets were revealed, and how they eventually became published or publicized. Over a dozen countries have now adopted comprehensive whistleblower protection laws that create mechanisms for reporting wrongdoing and provide legal protections. Over 50 countries have adopted more limited protections as part of their anti-corruption, freedom of information, or employment laws. For purposes of

9405-403: The whistleblower is also anonymous to the third-party service provider, which is made possible via toll-free phone numbers and/or web or app-based solutions that apply asymmetrical encryption . Private sector whistleblowing is arguably more prevalent and suppressed in society today. An example of private sector whistleblowing is when an employee reports to someone in a higher position such as

9504-710: Was a trustee before retiring in April 2018 and Dame Vivienne Westwood was a trustee before she died. In October 2019, a former Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) employee later identified as Brendan Whelan presented his dissent with the OPCW's findings about the investigation of the Douma chemical attack . Members of the Courage Foundation who attended included Kristinn Hrafnsson , Jose Bustani , Helmut Lohre and Gunter Meyer . Courage Foundation published

9603-400: Was basing his research on. Dr. Gillies's inquiry revealed that there were discrepancies to Dr. Burt’s work with inconsistencies in the twin's birth dates  particularly with the absence of records for twins to participate in the study, the falsification of data, and the “invention of crucial facts to support his controversial theory that intelligence is largely inherited.”   This led to

9702-593: Was made to prioritise the case of Wikileaks over all other beneficiaries. Courage trustee Susan Benn told Brown that Courage would no longer help him, writing in an email that "You have made a number of hostile and denigrating statements about other Courage beneficiaries who are facing grave legal and personal risks. Courage expects solidarity and mutual aid from its beneficiaries, especially when those among you face extreme uncertainty and danger." In response, Courage Foundation Director Naomi Colvin quit in protest and Brown alleged that he had only been given about $ 3,500 out of

9801-740: Was the sudden firing of seven people, false and public threats of a criminal investigation, and the death of one researcher by suicide. The government ultimately paid the victims millions of dollars for lost pay, slander, and other harms, in addition to CA $ 2.41 million spent on the subsequent 2015 investigation into the false charges. Whistleblowers are seen by some as selfless martyrs for public interest and organizational accountability; others view them as "traitors" or "defectors". Some even accuse them of solely pursuing personal glory and fame, or view their behavior as motivated by greed in qui tam cases. Culturally it still has connotations of betrayal, from 'snitching' at one level to 'denunciations' at

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