From civil disobedience to networked whistleblowing: What national security truth-tellers reveal in an age of crackdowns

From civil disobedience to networked whistleblowing: What national security truth-tellers reveal in an age of crackdowns
Published: December 15, 2025 8:23am EST

Kate Kenny
Professor of Business and Society, University of Galway
Iain Michael Fraser Munro
Professor of Organization Studies, Newcastle University


(The Conversation) Across the world, governments are tightening controls on speech, expanding surveillance and rolling back rights once thought to be secure.

From anti-protest laws and curbs on workers’ rights to the growing criminalization of leaks and dissent, the trend is chilling: People who speak out about government wrongdoing are increasingly vulnerable, and the legal systems that once claimed to protect them are now used to punish them.

We are researchers who study whistleblowing, which is when employees disclose information in the public interest about wrongdoing they have witnessed at work. Our new book draws on firsthand accounts from whistleblowers in national security, intelligence and government in the U.S., Australia and the U.K., among other countries. Their experiences show the limits of legal protections, but also the power of networks, solidarity and collective resistance in the face of institutional secrecy.

In this moment of democratic backsliding, whistleblowers show that civil disobedience – breaking the law to uphold the public good – remains an essential principle of political and moral life. They also show how legal reform and support networks designed to protect whistleblowers are critical for protecting accountability and democracy itself. ...................(more)

https://theconversation.com/from-civil-disobedience-to-networked-whistleblowing-what-national-security-truth-tellers-reveal-in-an-age-of-crackdowns-269488