whistleblower

whistleblower, an individual who, without authorization, reveals private or classified information about an organization, usually related to wrongdoing or misconduct. Whistleblowers generally state that such actions are motivated by a commitment to the public interest. The whistleblowing of Edward Snowden and Karen Silkwood are prime examples. Although the term was first used to refer to public servants who made known governmental mismanagement, waste, or corruption, it now covers the activity of any employee or officer of a public or private organization who alerts a wider group, often via the Internet and anonymous networks such as Tor, to setbacks to their health and interests as a result of waste, corruption, fraud, or profit seeking.

The typical background to whistleblowing is an understanding promulgated by organizations that those whom they employ are beneficiaries of an association to which they owe some measure of loyalty. Included in that measure is an expectation that employees will not jeopardize the interests of the organization by revealing certain kinds of information to people outside the organization. Furthermore, if members are unhappy about something the organization does, they will make it known only to the appropriate people within the organization. What has generated the need for a more neutral characterization of those who go outside the organization has been a recognition that internal mechanisms often fail to deal adequately with organization failures and that because the interests jeopardized by those failures are wider than those of the organization, the public has a right to know.

Setbacks to interest usually involve significant wrongdoing by officers of the organization, often amounting to the violation of human or other important rights, particularly of those served by the organization. The threat to a broader public is thought to justify the strategy of going public. Sometimes, however, the wrongdoing affects those within the organization more immediately than those served by it—for example, exploitative and dangerous working conditions that are ignored by management. What counts as going public may depend on an organization’s structure. In police organizations, with their strong horizontal loyalties, a person who reports wrongdoing to a supervisor or to internal affairs may be considered a whistleblower.

Discover how ordinary objects work, and expand your understanding of the familiar.

SIGN UP

" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">

Thank you for signing up!"

Back to homepage

By clicking "Sign Up", you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Justification

Whistleblowing often causes significant disruption within an organization. In one way or another, the organization is likely to lose control of its affairs as it is subjected to external inquiries and constraints. Indeed, it may find itself crippled, and many within it who are little more than innocent bystanders may also suffer. Whistleblowing, therefore, can be more easily condoned if several conditions are satisfied. First, the disruption likely to be caused by blowing the whistle can be justified only if other avenues of protest have proved ineffective. Sometimes, of course, the risks confronting whistleblowers may make less-extreme forms of reporting impracticable or dangerous. Although whistleblowers may be expected to demonstrate good faith, their martyrdom cannot be demanded. Second, whistleblowers must have good reasons for believing that their organizations are perpetrating the wrongs of which they are accused. Whistleblowers need evidence that will withstand public scrutiny. Third, the potential whistleblower needs to consider the seriousness of the detrimental behaviour. Finally, whistleblowing should accomplish some public good; otherwise, the damage it causes will likely outweigh any other value it may have.

Although it might be argued that any member of an organization who becomes aware of wrongdoing has an obligation to take some action, it is also true that the burden falls more heavily on some than on others. Certainly those in a supervisory capacity have a greater responsibility for the legitimacy of organizational behaviour than do their subordinates, especially those who are not privy to the context within which the organization’s acts may be understood. Although it is not necessary that whistleblowers be motivated by a concern for the public interest, whistleblowers are unlikely to be seen as having acted commendably unless they are so motivated. Whistleblowing—even when justified by circumstances—may nevertheless be motivated by revenge, the desire for promotion or ingratiation, self-protection, or penance, and it is common for those against whom the whistle is blown to attempt to undermine whistleblowers’ credibility. Although beside the point, such attacks may cast doubt on the credibility of whistleblowers without addressing the substance of their claims. The point, then, is not that the morally compromised are exempt from blowing the whistle but rather that they may not garner moral praise for doing so, and doubt may be cast on their credibility.

Obligation

That whistleblowing can sometimes be justified does not imply either a moral or a legal obligation to act. For one thing, failure to go public is an act of omission rather than of commission, and there is considerable philosophical debate about the moral imperative to act in order to prevent harm. Even if it is thought morally obligatory to do so, it is only in rare instances that the law requires an individual to act to prevent harm. Finally, given that whistleblowers may be made to suffer dearly, it might be too burdensome to require potential whistleblowers to act against their own interests.

The potential costs of whistleblowing have sometimes generated a debate over the merits of anonymous whistleblowing. Although anonymous whistleblowers may be secure against retaliation, the door may thereby be opened to whistleblowing that is motivated by revenge, rivalry, or some other unworthy motive; furthermore, anonymous whistleblowers may be free to make frivolous or careless charges against what are interpreted as setbacks to the public interest—without accountability.

Explore Britannica Premium!

The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.

SUBSCRIBE

Legal protections

Because whistleblowers are possible victims of retaliatory behaviour, many jurisdictions have enacted whistleblower-protection acts. Such acts, however, have generally provided inadequate protection, because retaliatory behaviour may be successfully disguised as something else, and even justifiable criticism of the employee may be seen as retaliatory. For many whistleblowers, the law has proved an inappropriate vehicle for protection. In some jurisdictions, therefore, whistleblower-protection programs have been developed, designed to offer the same personalized protection that witness-protection programs offer witnesses at risk of retaliation.