At National Online Safety, we provide multi-award-winning online safety education for the whole school community. It’s our mission to make the internet a safer place for children. We believe that when children go online to learn, communicate or play, they should be able to do so safely. That’s why we provide schools all over the world with the knowledge they need in order to tackle new and evolving online risks.
Whistleblowing
Part of our Online Relationships Series 2020-21
What is whistleblowing?
Whistleblowing is the act of raising a concern or disseminating information, publicly or privately, about the behaviour of an organisation by a person who has special knowledge.
This can relate to illegal activity, ethical concerns, issues of behaviour, or conflicts of interest.
Whistleblowers are different from informants, who are anonymous and often paid sources of information. A whistleblower is always a person who is revealing something they believe is against the public interest.
The online world has had a big effect on whistleblowing, partly because anonymity is easier to maintain, and partly because the volume of digital evidence is no vast.
However, anonymity has also resulted in whistleblowing being abused for manipulative reasons such as leaking information related to unethical information for political gain.
For more information on the associated risks and online safety tips for parents and carers, watch our explainer video, available to those with a National Online Safety membership.
