As the year draws to an end, we reflect on two significant challenges shaping our future, climate change and corruption. Addressing these issues requires a collective commitment to the common good over private interests. Whistleblowers play a crucial role, exemplified by those who revealed that the United Arab Emirates intended to leverage their hosting of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) for oil and gas deals. They are essential to safeguard the public interest.
To effectively confront the hurdle ahead, we need more individuals with the courage to blow the whistle. Unfortunately, those witnessing wrongdoing frequently lack the necessary support to step forward, fearing personal, professional or legal repercussions, and even physical harm.
In 2019, the European Union adopted a directive binding the 27 EU member states to protect whistleblowers. The directive gave them until December 2021 to meet these new EU standards on whistleblower protection. Every year since, we look at the progress made by countries to pass laws to comply with EU requirements.
It is now two years since the deadline has passed and we continue to be deeply worried that some EU states do not take whistleblower protection seriously, considering only five countries had adopted whistleblower protection laws by the deadline, and 14 member states had still not done it one year after the deadline. All but two EU countries have adopted whistleblower protection laws. Thus, we decided to investigate...
Several accounts -- run by users in Vietnam and boasting tens of thousands of followers -- later shifted to focus solely on Australian national politics, linking to websites full of AI-generated a...