Snitches Get Silenced: Why Protecting Whistleblowers is Fundamental for Democracy
Claire Parsons, Print Staff Writer
September 7 2020
Today at recess, post juice box, you watched Harry push Simon off the slide. It made you feel sad, really sad, because you knew Simon didn’t do anything mean to Harry. Worse, you know Harry does this all the time. But there’s a problem, you’re friends with Harry and as a result he doesn’t do these mean things to you. Harry looks up at you and says the same thing he says every time; “Don’t tell on me!”. You know the ‘or else’ is implied. It’s the politics of the playground.
Here’s the problem, sometimes the Harry’s of the world gain real power at the top of government and once they’re there, the same rules apply; “don’t tell when I do something wrong or I will make your life a living hell”. Luckily, sometimes people do tell on the Harry’s of the world.
These people are called whistleblowers and they are fundamental to the existence of democracy.
Whistleblowers are individuals that flag the misconduct and often illegal behaviour of their own companies and governments for the greater good. They’re people who witness the misconduct first hand and occasionally they are people who participated in it. Your first thought is likely of the American whistleblower, Edward Snowden, who exposed the NSA’s surveillance campaign of both US and UK citizens in 2013 which sparked a large scale discussion about what sacrifices concerning privacy we are willing to make for our security. There have been many more since then. Dr. Li Wenliang, a doctor in Wuhan, China, shared news of COVID-19 to his colleagues long before the Chinese government disclosed it to the WHO. Authorities charged him with ‘seriously disrupting social order’ but before he could be tried, Dr. Li died of the virus. Recognition of the virus from the Chinese government would come long after his death and so the pandemic rages on in late May at seven million cases globally with over four hundred thousand dead. Dr. Rick Bright, the former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority for the US, tried to call upon a lack of PPE for medical professionals and refused to recommend drugs, like hydroxychloroquine, without testing back in May 2020. He was promptly fired. Now, the FDA has barred any COVID-19 related prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine and there are still shortages for PPE.
Time and time again, people who go forward with information critical to the overall good of the public are promptly fired, exiled, arrested, and worse. Their reputation is thrown in the dirt in an attempt to discredit the information they are trying to spread and delegitimize their actual power and presence within the organizations themselves. Dr. Li Wenliang was, as mentioned, charged with disruption of public order, the US government has accused Dr. Rick Bright to be unliked by his colleagues and a lazy worker when in reality his performance records are exemplary. Edward Snowden is charged with treason and is currently in exile somewhere in Russia. It is the ‘democratic’ version of having opposition suddenly go missing or disappear. By eliminating these whistleblowers under the guise of betrayal and treason is a violation of their human rights. They get stripped of their right to free speech or get punished for holding some of the most powerful organizations in the world accountable. Although, perhaps what is most distressing about the global attack on whistleblowers is that they are continually accused of disrupting the peace.
Disrupting the present status quo of an organization is the core principle of democracy. In fact, whistleblowers are supposed to be protected from being ousted for their actions because of the very nature of the act and its importance to preserve accountability to the people. Many states have laws in place to protect whistleblowers. The Whistleblower Protection Act in the United States prevents formal arrests and termination of employment for whistleblowing because it is considered a moral service to the public. Although there are a large series of caveats to the legislation. For starters, while the legislation does withhold the identity of the whistleblower, it can be released. Think of the current campaign of President Trump to expose the Ukraine whistleblower. The whistleblower released transcripts of phone calls between the Presidents of the US and Ukraine, in which President Trump threatens to withhold military protection from Ukraine if Ukraine did not provide information on Trump’s political opponent, Joe Biden. If that name is released, it will be very likely that news outlets will play the discreditation role and the whistleblower will see their career obliterated. It would be a deliberate attack by the most powerful person in the world against a necessary accountability measure. Not to mention an obstruction of justice. Furthermore, the legislation only protects whistleblowers who go through the formal complaint process of the organization in question which is largely problematic if the organization is looking to cover their tracks. If you go to the media with your information, you’re on your own. It makes one wonder how anyone is supposed to whistleblow safely without disturbing the peace.
If you speak out against the bullies in your workplace who are putting the world at risk, right now, you put your career and reputation on the line. But this isn’t how it’s supposed to work. The very principles of democracy which include free speech, the ability to protest, and the choice to dissent builds a foundation for ‘social disruption’. Democracy is unsettling, it’s unstable, and yielding on purpose. Democracy allows entire organizations and administrations to be blown open by a whistleblower in order for them to be accountable to the people who put them in power in the first place. Any attempt to squash the ability to remain accountable to the people is a violation of democratic principles and thus a tyrannical action. The crime of causing unrest in society can be some of the most patriotic actions one can take and it is time we stop destroying the lives of whistleblowers and start advocating for better referees. Exposing the widespread surveillance of the US and UK has later been deemed by academics as an act that has made the world a safer place. If we had listened to Dr. Li Wenliang and Dr. Rick Bright, we’d currently be living in a healthier one.
So grab that juice box, go find the teacher, and snitch. It’s your civic duty.