Wikileaks — what does it mean for ordinary whistleblowers?
By Shonali Routray, Public Concern at Work
As the controversy of Wikileaks rages on, with the arrest of Julian Assange, the cyber-attacks by supporters of Wikileaks, and the more politically salacious information brought to light, the question that remains is what effect this almost Hollywoodesque sequence of events will have on the ordinary civil servant seeking to blow the whistle on malpractice or wrongdoing? Will they be too scared to raise their concern? Will they resort to anonymous leaking? Is this in the public interest or even their best interests?
The current coverage round Wikileaks, would have you believe that the only way that someone can blow the whistle is through the press. This is a misconception, the law clearly and readily protects those that blow the whistle to their boss or regulator. Significantly, from analysis of the Public Concern at Work helpline and employment tribunal judgments we know around 80% of workers raise their concern internally. The UK is one of the few jurisdictions in the world that has a comprehensive whistleblowing law (the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998) offering employment protection to both public and private sector workers who blow the whistle internally and externally to a regulator, the media or a MP. However a combination of low awareness of the law with the media storm around Wikileaks may discourage the civil servant from raising the serious concern. The use of the word and perception of “whistleblowing” only occurring when an individual goes outside, may undermine the progress made so far, in helping organisations realise that whistleblowing should be welcomed and supported if they want to find out about problems before it’s too late.
The dilemma for the potential whistleblower can be difficult as they seek to balance their own personal position with the public interest. The rub for the civil servant is if the information is caught by the Official Secrets Act, they will not be protected under the UK whistleblowing law by disclosing the information outside Whitehall. So in some ways the anonymous tip-off or leak may appear to a civil servant as the only option if they cannot raise the matter internally. However, is that really in the public interest? Surely in a modern democracy we should be sending the message to civil servants that it is safe to speak up and that it is much better to do so openly or confidentially.
In the USA, the debate round Wikileaks has taken a more sinister turn, with there being calls for the prosecution or even the execution of Julian Assange. Against this background, the US Senate is on the cusp of passing greater whistleblower protection for federal employees, and I sincerely hope that the outrage round Wikileaks will not scupper it. After all, surely it is in the public interest that civil servants can raise a concern about serious wrongdoing, safely.
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