Synthèse de documents (textes et vidéos) : Blowing the Whistle and Whistleblowers

Synthèse de documents (textes et vidéos) : Blowing the Whistle and Whistleblowers

        First let's define what a "whistleblower" is, it’s a person who exercises their right to freedom of expression by making public confidential information that is objectionable to alert the public. They are public witnesses to fraud and wrongdoing, for example they can see a manager of a nuclear factory breaking a security code and denouncing it. So a whistleblower can be a person who reports bad acts or violations of the law, a person who refuses to participate in bad acts, a person who testifies in legal proceedings or a person who leaks information to the media in order to alert the public, protect the constitution, stop the abuse of power, protect the environment.

        For example Edward Snowden is a whistleblower, he is known to have revealed secret documents on the surveillance of the United States on the telephones. According to him, a whistleblower is a person who denounces and discloses information to establish the truth.

He is a former employee of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA), he revealed the existence of several American and British mass surveillance programs. But following his revelations, Edward Snowden was indicted in 2013 by the United States government on counts of espionage, theft and illegal use of government property.

        Julian Assange is also a very well known whistleblower, he is the creator of the Wikileaks website, Wikileaks is a site that has exposed many US military war crimes, their controversial methods, and secret emails. Julian Assange only needed a small room and an internet connection for the world to hear. After about seven years of self-imposed captivity Assange finally wore out his welcome as a guest at the Ecuadorian embassy. He is now detained at her majesty’s prison Belmarch in East London where he doesn’t have a laptop. But during his long stay at the Ecuadorian embassy he published government secrets and leaked email of some of the world’s most powerful people. From an early age he already wanted a healthy skepticism of the use and able of technology by governments? The Wikileaks site has posted more than 90,000 documents on the war in Afghanistan, 390,000 documents on the war in Iraq, and a quarter of a million private messages between diplomats called Cable. These leaks have encountered ethical issues, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, "Every country, including the United States, must be able to have frank conversations with the people or nations it deals with. The Swedish government has issued an arrest warrant for Assange over allegations of rape and sexual violence, but has claimed that these allegations were fabricated in order to have him extradited to the United States, but it is an assertion that the United States government has rejected. So he sought refuge at the Embassy of Ecuador, where he revealed information about the Guantanamo prison. He also released thousands of emails showing that Democratic officials plotted against Bernie Sanders in his race against Hillary Clinton. So he became a hero for many people. But many people believe the news came from Russia, but Assange denied it. However, he was still sentenced to 50 weeks in prison.

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