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An expert explains the ins and outs of whistleblowing. Hint: It's never easy

U.S. whistleblower and former Facebook engineer Frances Haugen gives an interview in Paris on Nov. 12, 2021. (Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images)
U.S. whistleblower and former Facebook engineer Frances Haugen gives an interview in Paris on Nov. 12, 2021. (Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images)

We’ve been hearing a lot about whistleblowers these past few years, the most recent one Frances Haugen. She’s the former Facebook employee who went public with allegations that Facebook knowingly hid research showing that its products — including Instagram — amplified hate, misinformation and political unrest.

In 2014, another whistleblower was then-State Department employee John Tye, who revealed that the National Security Agency was running a secret spying program targeting Americans.

That experience inspired Tye to start a sort of whistleblower school — a non-profit called Whistleblower Aid — that counsels would-be whistleblowers on how to sound the alarm effectively and safely.

He joins host Robin Young to talk about the ins and outs of whistleblowing.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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