Definition: A whistleblower is a person who informs authorities, the workplace, or the public about reprehensible conditions or violations of the law. For example, it could be fraud, corruption or abusive behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The word comes from the 1960s, when British and American media used it about football referees and referees in other sports blowing a whistle when they see a criminal act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, the word whistleblower is used about a person who informs about matters that he or she believes are criticizable or directly illegal. Whether the information is leaked to the public, an authority or a workplace is not decisive for the use of the word. It is the act itself \u2013 informing about crimes or other reprehensible matters \u2013 which is called whistleblowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For that reason, someone, primarily in the past, would think that a whistleblower can also be called a gossip handle or even a stick. There\u2019s a lot at stake for the whistleblower. The person in question may be considered a stinger or risk other retaliation. It could potentially go beyond the person\u2019s reputation in the company. In this way, whistleblowing is a balancing act between loyalty to the workplace and responsibility to the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is one of the issues that the new legal requirement for the whistleblower directive in companies intends to address. Read more about the law for the protection of whistleblowers here or further down this page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, a whistleblower may be an employee of a company who goes to the boss with information about another employee’s illegal acts. It could also be an employee, or former employee, going to the press or a public body about the company\u2019s violation of the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A world-famous whistleblower<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the fact that we have also had major whistleblower cases in this country, one of the most talked-about whistleblowers in the world is probably Edward Snowden<\/a>. Through his work in the CIA, he was able to publish highly classified information about the NSA’s worldwide mass surveillance. He is still living with the consequences, and after an extended asylum, he has now been granted a permanent residence permit in Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The consequences of Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing are an example of why the EU has adopted the so-called whistleblower directive<\/a>: a law to protect whistleblowers, which requires companies to establish a whistleblower directive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n