Are Whistle Blowers Ethical

Who is a whistle blower? A whistle blower is anyone who exposes any sort of information or activities that is viewed as dishonest and illegal within the boundaries of an organization that is either public or private. This term comes from the whistle a referee uses to single out a foul play. The term was brought up to totally annihilate the usage of negative terms such as informers, rats and snitches. The information of accused wrongdoing can be categorized in various ways such as: violation of company policies, violation of the law, threat to the public interest, threat to national security, fraud and corruption. Those who blow the whistle can bring the alleged information to surface either internally or externally. Internal disclosure would imply the indictments are exposed to the members of the company. While external disclosure would imply that the whistle blower brings the allegations to light by involving a third party outside the accused institution. He/she can involve the police, media, government or those who are concerned.

Whistle blowers also face stiff reprisal from those who are accused of the illegal activities. Although they might be presented with the offer for protection, this might not be the ultimate truth. They (whistle blowers) face legal action, criminal charges, social stigma and also termination from

Observers of wrongdoing should decide whether it is morally good in the particular context to prioritise their loyalty to a specific person, a set of people or the organisation as an entity and therefore remain silent. But if the moral decision is to act in terms of the universally acceptable rules applicable in that particular context and to therefore expose the moral