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Essay on whistle blowing
Essay on whistle blowing
Summary on whistle blowing
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Wrongdoings happen all around the world. Whether on a small or large scale, immoral practices such as abuse of power, cheating, money laundering, etc. are common in almost all of the countries. Whenever these cases happen, many people are bribed into concealing the secret and do so as they are told. This act causes that particular practice to grow and do even more damage to society while still being unknown to the innocent public. Although, there is almost always a person involved who is against the practice and wants to reveal what’s happening to world. Unfortunately, those who speak out, also known as whistleblowers, end up facing harsh consequences. What did these people do wrong? The point being, Whistleblowers should be protected because they uncover secrets that affect the public, expose unethical practices and help make the future better. One such example of bravery would be former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden who revealed the NSA’s mass surveillance program, PRISM. He leaked several documents bringing the PRISM program into existence which caused uproar against it and companies which supported it. His action brought to the publics’ eyes how the government was violating their privacy. Daniel Raphael, a college student, stated that “Most importantly of all perhaps is that it violates the first amendment, as it violates freedom of speech in a very real way, as we have now all been labeled as guilty until proven innocent.” (Raphael). Even though he was a hero in people like Raphael’s eyes, the government and much of the media demonized him. He had to leave his life in the U.S.A and flee to Hong Kong just to seek refuge. What did he do wrong? He exposed something he thought affected the public. He exposed something which t... ... middle of paper ... ...ted Cohn, Marjorie. Bradley Manning: An American Hero. 09 09 2010. 20 11 2013 . Dreyfuss, Ben. What is the NSA's PRISM program? (FAQ). 07 07 2012. 20 11 2012 . Kempa, Darcy. Edward Snowden News: Snowden Finally Reveals Himself to Be a Traitor. 25 07 2012. 20 11 2013 . Mohr, Angie. Whistleblowers And Their Impact On Business. 19 01 2012. 14 11 2013 . Raphael, Daniel. Why Edward Snowden Is a Hero. 07 11 2013. 20 11 2012 .
In order to be a hero, one must be courageous. Some people that are heroes are Susan B. Anthony and Harriet Tubman.
Kevin M. Gallagher. 2013. Freedom of the Press Foundation. Glenn Greenwald, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden: 'I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things'. Video file posted on YouTube on June 9, 2013.
Cassidy, John. "Why Edward Snowden Is a Hero." The New Yorker. N.p., 10 June 2013. Web. 15 Feb.
Stray, Jonathan. "FAQ: What You Need to Know About the NSA’s Surveillance Programs." Top Stories RSS. N.p., 5 Aug. 2013. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.
While the words Traitor and Hero are easy to define and understand it is the perspective of the viewer and society they exist within that gives the words relevance. A Traitor to one may be a Hero to another. In this Essay the researcher hopes to demonstrate that Edward Snowden is both a Hero and a Traitor.
Whistle blowing is a controversial topic in the professional industry. Whistle blowing is the act of speaking out against a fellow colleague or even a friend that has done something non-ethical or illegal in the workplace. A whistleblower raises concerns about the wrongdoing inside of the workplace. Employees hesitate to become a whistleblower because of the idea of becoming a snitch on fellow employees and having a bad rep around the office. This concern was lowered in 1989 with a law called the Whistleblower Protection Act that protects federal government employees in the United States from retaliatory action for voluntarily disclosing information about dishonest or illegal activities occurring at a government organization (whistleblowers.gov).
Cassidy, John. "Why Edward Snowden Is a Hero." The New Yorker. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.
Korte, Gregory. “FBI Director: Snowden Not a ‘hero Whistle-blower”’ Www.13wmaz.com. 13WMAZ, 9 Jan. 2014. Web. 18 May. 2014.
Now, the debate rages on: Is Edward Snowden an American hero or an American villain. The United States government wants to bring treason and espionage against him for leaking some of the most confidential government secrets, but, what most people didn’t know before this whole debacle was that the government was uncontrollably spying on its people using any type of phone, tablet, or computer, Now the government’s response to the outrage of the people would be that they are protecting them from possible terrorists, but some may still ask the question of: Is the government violating my privacy? After gathering all the information, it is up to you to decide: Is Edward Snowden an American hero for exposing to the people of the U.S. the government’s dirty spying secrets or is he an American traitor guilty of espionage and treason?
The term Whistleblower means “An employee who discloses information that s/he reasonably believes is evidence of illegality, gross waste or fraud, mismanagement, abuse of power, general wrongdoing, or a substantial and specific danger to public health and safety. When information is classified or otherwise restricted by Congress or Executive Order, disclosures only are protected as whistleblowing if made through designated, secure channels. (What is a Whistleblower?)” The idea behind whistleblowers is that they believe trying to inform the public of illegal acts within their businesses has the potential to protect the public from wrongdoing. The following studies analyze scholar’s findings on different factors related to whistle blowing as
Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (N.S.A) subcontractor turned whistle-blower is nothing short of a hero. His controversial decision to release information detailing the highly illegal ‘data mining’ practices of the N.S.A have caused shockwaves throughout the world and have raised important questions concerning how much the government actually monitors its people without their consent or knowledge. Comparable to Mark Felt in the Watergate scandals, Daniel Ellsberg with the Pentagon Papers, Edward Snowden joins the rank of infamous whistleblowers who gave up their jobs, livelihood, and forever will live under scrutiny of the public all in the service to the American people. Edward Snowden released information detailing the extent of the N.S.A breaches of American privacy and in doing so, became ostracized by the media and barred from freely reentering America, his home country.
I want to learn more about the whistleblowing in the country that I am studying, so I looked up the journey of whistleblowing in the America. U.S. has a long history on whistleblowing. The first whistleblower is Benjamin Franklin in 1773, which
(6/3/2004) 21 Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (2002) Employee Monitoring: Is There Privacy in the Workplace? . (6/3/2004) 22 Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (2002) Employee Monitoring: Is There Privacy in the Workplace? . (6/3/2004) 23 Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (2002) Employee Monitoring: Is There Privacy in the Workplace? .
It is likely to consider Edward Snowden as a whistle blower because he wanted the people to decide what the government can or can not do. According to the article, Man behind NSA Leaks Says He Did It to Safeguard Privacy, Liberty, Edward Snowden's believes that, “the public needs to decide whether these programs or policies are right or wrong.” (Barbara, Yan). M...
Morality is the biggest and best reason for this act because people generally want to do the good moral thing. If a person should have to blow the whistle on a company they should know that for every action there is a reaction, and the reaction of whistle blowing might lead to getting fired. One of the most controversial types of whistle blowing is that of impersonal. If a company is making products that are unsafe because they are trying to save a few dollars, an employee could see this as immoral and tell the public about it. The whistle blower would do this based on Kant's theory. It would be following the moral law to do so. If a company is cutting corners and hurting others, it would be morally unacceptable not to blow the whistle on this company. To knowingly let innocent people get hurt because of something that you could have stopped is morally wrong. A lot of people would blow the whistle on a company that is making unsafe products, but not all. A number of people would not inform the public of the company's wrongdoings. They would not do it out of fear that they might loose there job or even be blacklisted from the industry altogether. If they are not fired they will most likely be outcasts at their job and looked over at promotion time.