Ethical Whistleblowing

Whistleblowing normally has been identified as an action taken by an employee, customer or any other person associated with an organization (whistle blower), alerting the society to potential or actual damage to the public as a result of present or future actions of the organization.

Whistleblowing can also be broken down into two different categories in which the whistleblower may notify others of the alleged wrongdoing; either internally or externally.

Internal Whistleblowing- is when a whistleblower will first try to notify their superior of whatever wrongdoing is occurring. The whistleblower will follow the proper channels to notify the management of the organization in order for their complaint to be heard.

External Whistleblowing — is when the whistleblower will notify the media, public interest groups, or regulatory agencies rather than the management of the organization.

Whistleblowing is a courageous act done by people who are not afraid to look the opposite direction when a wrongdoing is happening. There is one name that pops up in history whenever we talk about ‘whistleblowers’ and that is Edward Joseph Snowden. He was a former CIA employee who leaked classified and restricted information to the public from the United States National Security Agency in 2013.

Due to whistleblowing the whistleblower may face issues because of that if that person is a employee of the organization that person may be demoted or transferred or may be fired from the organization.

There are specific laws to protect whistleblowers from losing their job or getting mistreated. Most companies have a separate policy and they clearly state how to report such an incident. The crime or wrongdoing could be in the form of fraud, deceiving employees, corruption, or any other thing which may be base on ethics that misleads people.

There are benefits of whistleblowing such as can lead to the end of unethical business practices, lives of individuals and whole communities can be saved. The actions of whistleblowers are potentially beneficial to the society.