Hypothetically, if you are a witness or whistleblower who's adversary was a very big corporation (such as boeing), what measures could you take to prevent yourself from being "suicided"?
Hypothetically, if you are a witness or whistleblower who's adversary was a very big corporation (such as boeing), what measures could you take to prevent yourself from being "suicided"?
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Edward Snowden is a prime example of how to handle it.
Only communicated via encrypted channels.
When revealing himself and his leak, he had already left his home country. He was trying to make it to South America when the US canceled his passport. US went so far as to bring down a sovereign nations Presidential plane to search it for Snowden.
I'm sure he has still had to worry about his personal safety after getting stuck in a country he wasn't planning on getting stuck in.
But the reality is you have to meticulously plan and basically abandon your entire life and move somewhere they cannot touch you. When it comes to US companies, you generally will have to do like Snowden and avoid US-allied nations.
See also: Steven Donziger and Chevron
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Donziger
Donziger was placed under house arrest in August 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of criminal contempt of court, which arose during his appeal against Kaplan's RICO decision, when he refused to turn over electronic devices he owned to Chevron's forensics experts. In July 2021, US District Judge Loretta Preska found him guilty, and Donziger was sentenced to 6 months in jail in October 2021. While Donziger was under house arrest in 2020, twenty-nine Nobel laureates described the actions taken by Chevron against him as "judicial harassment." Human rights campaigners called Chevron's actions an example of a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP). In April 2021, six members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus demanded that the Department of Justice review Donziger's case. In September 2021, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that the pre-trial detention imposed on Donziger was illegal and called for his release. Having spent 45 days in prison and a combined total of 993 days under house arrest, Donziger was released on April 25, 2022.
US corporations can and will bring the weight of the US "justice" system on whistleblowers. The US is not unique in this regard. Whatever giant company you're whistleblowing against, you better GTFO of the country they are based in.
Yeah so many people talk about Snowden going to Russia and ignore the fact that he was only in Russia transferring to another plane when his passport was cancelled stranding him there. The choice was basically stay there, or go back to the US, and that wasn't really an option.
Why the US would want to leave him in Russia as a potential asset for Russian intelligence to break instead of letting him get to a different country that isn't such a direct threat though is a really good question.
Easy. They got to call him a Russian operative and brush it under the rug. Go ask the average person about snowden
They can say whatever they want about him without actually stranding him in Russia to literally be a potential further leak. The info he leaked is different than his knowledge of processes and systems.
But he was a data analyst so his knowledge of processes and systems would be basically useless as all he would have known would have been how to access the file stores that were being gathered and provided by other agencies for his agency to review. It's not like if Russia put him on a rack and tortured him. They'd find much useful information. At worst they would be able to confirm things they already very strongly suspect.
Those Boeing Whistleblowers should've left the country 😓
Preferably, not via Boeing aircraft.
The United States - Freedom of Corruption, Indignity and Distrust for All!
Snowden was an IT expert, it certainly helps. His book is a great read.
US went so far as to bring down a sovereign nations Presidential plane to search it for Snowden.
I wonder if Morales got any concessions for agreeing to land his plane and allow a search.
He was a democratically elected leader from the left in Latin America. Not being murdered in his sleep could be considered special concessions.