Whistleblowing in a time of digital (in)visibility: towards a sociology of ‘grey areas’

TY - JOUR

T1 - Whistleblowing in a time of digital (in)visibility

T2 - towards a sociology of ‘grey areas’

AU - Olesen, Thomas

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - There are currently no concerted attempts to understand the role of whistleblowers in the new social and political environment created by digital ICTs. Digital ICTs drive an accelerating visibility where elites and citizens constantly acquire new tools to track, surveil, and scrutinize each other. Moreover, these technologies make possible a new kind of invisibility. Increasingly complex modes of digital data production and usage generate grey areas that seem to escape legal jurisdiction and democratic oversight. With their privileged access inside these grey areas, conscientious employees-turned-whistleblowers are likely to become key sources for the disclosure of serious wrongdoing in the coming years. The argument is empirically illustrated through three cases that represent different types of grey areas in advanced democracies: big data surveillance (Edward Snowden), tax havens (Antoine Deltour and the Panama and Paradise Papers), and digital political profiling (Christopher Wylie).

AB - There are currently no concerted attempts to understand the role of whistleblowers in the new social and political environment created by digital ICTs. Digital ICTs drive an accelerating visibility where elites and citizens constantly acquire new tools to track, surveil, and scrutinize each other. Moreover, these technologies make possible a new kind of invisibility. Increasingly complex modes of digital data production and usage generate grey areas that seem to escape legal jurisdiction and democratic oversight. With their privileged access inside these grey areas, conscientious employees-turned-whistleblowers are likely to become key sources for the disclosure of serious wrongdoing in the coming years. The argument is empirically illustrated through three cases that represent different types of grey areas in advanced democracies: big data surveillance (Edward Snowden), tax havens (Antoine Deltour and the Panama and Paradise Papers), and digital political profiling (Christopher Wylie).

KW - Christopher Wylie

KW - Edward Snowden

KW - ICTs

KW - NSA

KW - Panama Papers

KW - Paradise Papers

KW - big data

KW - democracy

KW - digitalization

KW - surveillance

KW - tax havens

KW - whistleblowing

KW - POLITICS

U2 - 10.1080/1369118X.2020.1787484

DO - 10.1080/1369118X.2020.1787484

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1369-118X

VL - 25

SP - 295

EP - 310

JO - Information, Communication & Society

JF - Information, Communication & Society

IS - 2

ER -