The New Scarlet Letter: Whistleblowing and the price of doing the right thing

BY NIKKI ADEBIYI, FOUNDER @ BOUNCE BLACK

Content warning: distressing topics

2024 has been a year of chaos, to say the least. Revelation after revelation. Exposure after exposure. Loss after loss. It’s a lot.

Something I haven’t seen enough discussion about is how dangerous it’s becoming to tell the truth, to shine light on darkness and call out gross negligence or abuse. The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. I believe that the fear of accountability is a close second.

We are watching in real-time what money and power in not just the wrong hands but the wrong hearts can do. It is terrifying. And that’s the point. Wicked people don’t like their wickedness being exposed, so they will do whatever they can to prevent that from happening or continuing. Some of them will stop at nothing because only their lives matter to them, so anyone and everyone becomes dispensable.

Coincidentally, the chaotic news stories are surfacing alongside the research into retaliation that I am doing in collaboration with Berlin-based startup VENT, who are developing tech solutions to the problem of toxic leadership in the workplace.

Project ZER0 is a campaign to create global dialogue about workplace retaliation with a view to strengthening international efforts to change laws and policies to protect workers. We are seeking anonymous stories (via interview or survey) from people who have experienced retaliation in the workplace.

Here’s why this research matters for the future of work.

What is whistleblowing?

Whistleblowing refers to the act of exposing information or activity taking place in an organisation that is illegal, unethical, or not correct. This disclosure can be made by any stakeholder in an organisation, but they are usually made by employees or former employees. Whistleblowers typically report such misconduct to individuals or entities that have the power to take corrective action, such as regulatory agencies, the media, or law enforcement.

Edward Snowden is a household name whistleblower. In 2013, the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor leaked classified information revealing the extent of global surveillance programmes run by the NSA and its allies. This caused great concern about mass data collection, privacy, security and the government going beyond its legitimate role.

Why do people blow the whistle?

There are different reasons why people choose to report wrongdoing.

The first is that it’s just the right thing to do. Plain and simple. People who are conscientious and have a strong sense of right and wrong tend to feel morally obligated to expose unethical or illegal activities. Such people are opposed to complicity in evil and coverups. They may also believe it in the public interest to make such disclosures so as to promote transparency and accountability, and to prevent the harm from spreading to other members of the public. Others may want redress for direct harmful experiences of their own.

While there may be financial incentives involved, such as a bounty in exchange for helpful disclosure, whistleblowers are primarily driven by the desire for systemic change rooted in a personal commitment to principles of ethics and integrity.

Is it worth the risk?

To be perfectly honest, telling the truth is risky business. Literally.

On top of potential financial ramifications in terms of loss of jobs, opportunities, income and reputation, there is also threat of retaliation from those with vast power and resources who seek to avoid exposure and evade accountability. As recurrent news headlines show, threats to property and life may occur because some people play dirty and absolutely nothing is off limits when they have a vendetta against someone else.

The mental health and wellbeing cost of this is boundless. Financial instability combined with anxiety about personal safety is a cruel concoction that some people unfortunately eventually succumb to. Some retaliation tactics, such as organised harassment, are specifically designed for that outcome.

Each person must decide for themselves the risks they are willing to take on.

Organised harassment: an evil hidden in plain sight

Organised harassment, commonly referred to as ‘gang stalking,’ is a form of coordinated intimidation and harassment perpetrated against individuals by groups or networks. This phenomenon involves multiple perpetrators working together to systematically target and harass a victim, often with the goal of retaliation, silencing dissent, or instilling fear. It is worth taking time to understand these tactics in depth for the sake of awareness, accountability and prevention.

At the heart of organised harassment is its intricate coordination and community involvement. There can be hundreds of perpetrators, knowingly or unknowingly, at any one time. Perpetrators may use disinformation and deceit to smear the victim’s reputation and recruit others to participate in the coordinated efforts to destroy the victim. This can take place anywhere, including the victim’s neighbourhood, place of worship, and public and private gatherings.

Because the ultimate aim is to break down the victim and drive them to act destructively or end their own lives, the harassment is persistent and pervasive. Tactics vary but may include anything from stalking and surveillance to vandalism and cyberattacks. At the more extreme end, organised harassment can result in conspiracy to commit more serious crimes such as murder.

Victims who live to tell the tale report experiences of attempted poisonings and bioterrorism, gassing, kidnapping and forced institutionalisation, home invasions, arson and more. Those who don’t make it, sadly, may be tortured to the extent of taking their own lives, or become victims of concealed homicides, dying under suspicious circumstances, such as staged ‘suicides’ or mysterious, unexpected rapid infections, or other ‘accidental’ circumstances. Sometimes people with a history of illness can have their lives ended prematurely under the guise of that very same history. It is indeed harrowing stuff, often perpetrated by those with the means to do so.

Perhaps the more shocking reality of organised harassment is that it is an evil that is hidden in plain sight because there are more perpetrators than victims. Many people, from your average Joe or Jamilah, to those in power, are complicit in these crimes against humanity because of financial gain. There are people numbing their consciences to turn a blind eye and profit from the suffering of others. If and when confronted, they deny knowledge or participation, inflicting further suffering by gaslighting victims.

Others may not even be aware of the full extent of what they’re participating in because they may be approached with a fictitious story that paints the victim in such a terrible light that these unsuspecting people may even think they are doing the right thing.

So, think twice when someone invites you to taunt someone because of something they have supposedly done, lest you unwittingly participate in corporate psychological terror and/or incur blood on your hands. Sadly, these schemes are often masterminded by corrupt law enforcement who wield their authority to harm rather than protect people.

Examples of organised harassment tactics

24/7 monitoring of a person’s whereabouts and interactions
Deliberately barging into the victim or tripping them up
Hacking and interfering with devices, web connectivity, mobile network and social media accounts
Mail tampering and sabotage
Blackballing and smearing reputations
Taking photographs or making video calls deliberately in view of the victim, or staring at them through selfie camera view
Carrying items with coded messages positioned in view of the victim (e.g. cemetery branded merchandise or “hidden in plain sight” printed on bags)
Taunting covert communication and veiled death threats (e.g. communicating through car license plates referencing things in the victim’s life; creating social media accounts with references to the victim’s life or relationships)
The use of two phones to cover up tracks and minimise chances of incrimination
Using mutual friends as informants in shared car rides with phones secretly on calls transmitting information to other perpetrators
In extreme circumstances, meals may be laced with sharp objects or poisonous toxins

Sounds crazy? That’s because it is, and it’s a real evil that plagues many people across the globe, many of whom are whistleblowers. It’s an evil carried out by even the most unassuming people. And yet how would we know of these tactics without whistleblowers? The alleged “training manual” for perpetrators of this psychological terror was itself exposed by a whistleblower.

To learn more about organised harassment, check out our dedicated topic information guide, featuring resources for support as well as further elaboration on torture tactics as recognised by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

If nothing changes

The conundrum with reporting abuse, negligence or wrongdoing is that if it isn’t done out of fear of harm, it still causes harm.

As more and more seemingly untouchable people are being struck down and meeting their overdue reckoning, it’s important to realise that whether witnesses speak up or not, someone is always in danger.

No doubt the fear and paranoia of those who are desperate to bury the skeletons in their closet is creating more casualties as they seek to pre-empt any possibility of exposure. For example, it has been widely reported that Harvey Weinstein hired a private intelligence firm to surveil and discredit his accusers. The tactics of COINTELPRO are very much alive and in use today because the stakes are high either way.

Of course, the decision to blow the whistle is complex and personal. Yet I think often of the words of a toxic workplace survivor, who recounted the words of a former colleague in response to her coming forward about her experiences:

“If I didn’t stay silent, maybe they would have been held accountable and you wouldn’t have gone through all of that.“

A lack of accountability for abusers in the workplace only exposes more people to their abuse. If they feel untouchable, they only become more emboldened to go further in their abuse because they know the system will not punish them for doing so. In the most toxic of workplaces, such individuals may even be rewarded with a continued rise in position.

The less psychologically safe our workforce, the less productive it will be. The more traumatising the culture of work is, the more bleak the future of work and, indeed, everyday life becomes.

The consequences for society and the economy cannot be overstated, but the human cost alone should be enough to cause us to rethink our cultures of silence. If someone didn’t blow the whistle about the training manual for perpetrators of organised harassment, the thousands of victims affected all over the world may have been pushed to despair because of the weight of being subject to torturous experiences that most people don’t realise or believe is happening.

It is true that whistleblowers can and do suffer many losses, but it is also true that whistleblowers can and do save many lives.

V is for virtue

We, the Project ZER0 team, know that our survival and flourishing is interconnected. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.

We have the audacity to believe that there is power in the collective voice, and if we come together to take a stand against personal and professional vendettas, we might actually be able to do something about it.

Of course, there will always be risk. The words of Christ come to mind here: “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for My sake will find it.” Thankfully, my faith neutralises the threat and reality of death for me since it is an inevitable reality, but also because I believe in the coming Judgement and Resurrection.

In a world void of integrity and conscience, standing up for what’s right may come at great cost. But nothing changes if nothing changes. So, I hope that if you see something, you say something.

Be smart and cautious about who and how you tell your story, but turning a blind eye and becoming mute in the face of evil shouldn’t be an option. Even if all you do is share your experiences in our survey and/or circulate the below resources to victims and survivors of workplace abuse, retaliation and cover-up culture, in due time, those small acts can make a world of difference.

So, what side of history will you stand on?

The decision is yours and yours alone to make.

Choose wisely. Choose conscientiously. Choose courageously.

Other related content:

If you feel suicidal as a result of a workplace problem, please reach out to someone you trust or call the Samaritans on 116 123

If you feel unsafe or in danger as a result of harassment or abuse in the home or at work, please call the police on 999 or your local emergency number