4 ms·

How do they make their money??

gadders 3y ago
Billionaire donors like Pierre Omidyar: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/20/tech-billionaire-aiding-facebook-whistleblower-516358 https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/20/tech-billionaire-ai... Given the donors and the list of cases WhistleblowerAid has been involved in, I wonder how politically neutral this organisation is.
- diggan 3y ago
  Does it have to be 100% politically neutral to be useful? Whistle-blowing in itself is already kind of political, you have to strongly disagree (morally, politically, legally or otherwise) with what the organization you're in is currently doing in order to whistle-blow. Besides, would be wonderfully ironic if the goal of the organization would be to get people inside competitors to the "donors" to whistle-blow, but in the end someone whistle-blows on the pro-whistle-blowing organization.
  - some_random 3y ago
    You 100% want to avoid whistle blowing becoming a politically aligned action.
    - hatenberg 3y ago
      By the virtue of the terminal polarization in the US everything is political.
      - some_random 3y ago
        Oh no our brakes went out, guess there's nothing to do but floor it.
  - gadders 3y ago
    I think it could undermine their credibility. They then begin to look like another bunch of party hacks, of which we have too many already (on whatever side).
- cycomanic 3y ago
  I don't understand your point. The very article you cite states that Haugen (the Facebook whistle-blower) was praised by politicians from both sides. On top of that whistleblowing is inherently political because it implies an individual reporting on a (typically) much larger and powerful organisation, for moral, ethical or legal reasons. When I read statements like yours I always wonder about the motivation. What are you trying to achieve? Is this part of a covert campaign to discredit some inconvenient organisation?
  - gadders 3y ago
    Lol. Yes, me and millions of dollars of Russian funding in a covert campaign. >>On top of that whistleblowing is inherently political because it implies an individual reporting on a (typically) much larger and powerful organisation Agreed, but if the organisation only supports you when you say things about a much larger and more powerful right-wing organisation then you're not for all whistleblowers. Here's a thought experiment for you - the Democrat email leak in 2016 or Hunter Biden's laptop or the Twitter files - if that was leaked by a whistleblower, do you think an organisation like this would have supported it? Or would they think "This may harm our favoured political candidate"?
some_random 3y ago
Per another comment, they provide legal representation and take 60% of the payout
- bomewish 3y ago
  Ah thanks. It didn't say that anywhere I saw on the site. Didn't expect that since it seems in at least some of the cases there is no lawsuit where they can expect to recover damages. It costs a penny to keep professionals like that engaged, so there is money behind there, just not clear whose.

Billionaire donors like Pierre Omidyar: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/20/tech-billionaire-aiding-facebook-whistleblower-516358 https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/20/tech-billionaire-ai... Given the donors and the list of cases WhistleblowerAid has been involved in, I wonder how politically neutral this organisation is.

diggan 3y ago
Does it have to be 100% politically neutral to be useful? Whistle-blowing in itself is already kind of political, you have to strongly disagree (morally, politically, legally or otherwise) with what the organization you're in is currently doing in order to whistle-blow. Besides, would be wonderfully ironic if the goal of the organization would be to get people inside competitors to the "donors" to whistle-blow, but in the end someone whistle-blows on the pro-whistle-blowing organization.
- some_random 3y ago
  You 100% want to avoid whistle blowing becoming a politically aligned action.
  - hatenberg 3y ago
    By the virtue of the terminal polarization in the US everything is political.
    - some_random 3y ago
      Oh no our brakes went out, guess there's nothing to do but floor it.
- gadders 3y ago
  I think it could undermine their credibility. They then begin to look like another bunch of party hacks, of which we have too many already (on whatever side).
cycomanic 3y ago
I don't understand your point. The very article you cite states that Haugen (the Facebook whistle-blower) was praised by politicians from both sides. On top of that whistleblowing is inherently political because it implies an individual reporting on a (typically) much larger and powerful organisation, for moral, ethical or legal reasons. When I read statements like yours I always wonder about the motivation. What are you trying to achieve? Is this part of a covert campaign to discredit some inconvenient organisation?
- gadders 3y ago
  Lol. Yes, me and millions of dollars of Russian funding in a covert campaign. >>On top of that whistleblowing is inherently political because it implies an individual reporting on a (typically) much larger and powerful organisation Agreed, but if the organisation only supports you when you say things about a much larger and more powerful right-wing organisation then you're not for all whistleblowers. Here's a thought experiment for you - the Democrat email leak in 2016 or Hunter Biden's laptop or the Twitter files - if that was leaked by a whistleblower, do you think an organisation like this would have supported it? Or would they think "This may harm our favoured political candidate"?

some_random 3y ago

Per another comment, they provide legal representation and take 60% of the payout

bomewish 3y ago
Ah thanks. It didn't say that anywhere I saw on the site. Didn't expect that since it seems in at least some of the cases there is no lawsuit where they can expect to recover damages. It costs a penny to keep professionals like that engaged, so there is money behind there, just not clear whose.