According to a joint media investigation on Sunday, a trove of stolen private documents from the ride-sharing corporation Uber demonstrate the unethical and maybe criminal strategies it employed to drive its rapid international development beginning nearly 10 years ago.
The investigation, known as the “Uber Files,” which involved numerous news outlets, discovered that company officials used the occasionally violent backlash from the taxi industry against drivers to gain support and elude regulatory authorities as it sought to expand into new markets early in its history.
The disclosures, which were compiled from 124,000 papers from 2013 to 2017 and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, are the latest blow to a corporation racked by scandal as it grew into a disruptive force in local transportation.
Uncensored text and email correspondence between executives is included in the cache, with standouts coming from co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick, who was forced to resign in 2017 after being accused of brutal management techniques and numerous instances of sexual and psychological harassment at the workplace.
During sometimes-heated protests in Paris in 2016 against Uber’s entry into the market, Kalanick urged for a counter protest and texted other business executives, “Violence guarantee(s) results.”
The Washington Post, one of the media sources engaged in the investigation, said that Uber’s explosive growth depended on subsidized drivers and discounted prices that undercut the taxi business, “sometimes without obtaining permits to operate as a taxi and livery service.”
As cab drivers felt their means of support were endangered, they faced violent reactions across Europe. According to the Post, the study discovered that “in some cases, when drivers were attacked, Uber executives rapidly shifted to capitalize” to seek public and regulatory backing.
According to the Guardian, Uber has used comparable strategies in European nations like Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy, mobilizing drivers and enticing them to report crimes to the police when they were the victims of violence in order to use media attention to persuade the authorities to grant them concessions.
According to a Kalanick representative, he “never recommended that Uber should take advantage of violence at the expense of driver safety,” strongly disputing the results as having a “false purpose.”
According to a Kalanick representative, he “never recommended that Uber should take advantage of violence at the expense of driver safety,” strongly disputing the results as having a “false purpose.”
Uber, on the other hand, attributed the Sunday incident to previously acknowledged “mistakes” committed by the Kalanick administration.
It noted that his successor, Dara Khosrowshahi, “was tasked with transforming every aspect of how Uber operates,” saying, “We’ve moved from an era of confrontation to one of collaboration, demonstrating a willingness to come to the table and find common ground with former opponents, including labour unions and taxi companies.”
An “off switch”
According to the Post, the study also revealed that Uber made efforts to use its technology advantage to elude regulatory investigations.
It recounted a situation in which Kalanick used a “kill switch” to remotely disable devices at an Amsterdam office from accessing Uber’s internal systems during a police raid.
He sent an email to a worker asking, “Please press the kill switch as soon as possible.” “AMS (Amsterdam) access must be terminated.”
The former CEO “never approved any acts or initiatives that would impede justice in any nation,” according to Devon Spurgeon, a spokeswoman for Kalanick.
In addition, Kalanick “has never been prosecuted in any jurisdiction for obstruction of justice or any comparable violation” and “did not establish, supervise or monitor these systems put up by legal and compliance departments,” according to the statement.
The probe said that Uber officials knew their conduct violated the law and that they had become “pirates,” naming one who made the joke.
According to sources, the documents show that Uber also pushed governments to support its growth, finding in particular an advocate in Emmanuel Macron of France, who served as the country’s economy minister from 2014 to 2016 and is now its president.
According to The Washington Post, the business thought Macron would persuade authorities “to be ‘less conservative’ in their interpretation of restrictions limiting the corporation’s operations.”
Despite the fact that Macron was a vocal advocate of Uber and the notion of making France a “start-up country,” it appears from the stolen documents that the minister’s views occasionally conflicted with those of the socialist administration.
Leftist legislators were outraged by the disclosures and accused Uber and Macron of violating “all our regulations, all our social rights, and against employees’ rights” as well as the “pillage of the country.”
