Leaked documents have provided an insight into how one of the world’s most famous technology companies has run aggressive lobbying activities, including against top politicians, in order to establish itself in Europe.
Until Monday night, the whistleblower’s identity was unknown, but now it turns out that it is one of the company’s former top managers who is behind the revelations.
In a longer interview with the newspaper The Guardian says MacGann that it was very easy to gain access to the most powerful actors in society.
– People lay almost flat to meet Uber and hear what we had to offer, says MacGann. – It was intoxicating, he adds.
Led the company’s lobbying business
MacGann led Uber’s lobbying operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East from 2014 to 2016.
He justifies the leak by saying that he believes Uber broke the law in a number of countries knowingly and intentionally, and because the company misled people with claims about what kind of benefits it would bring to work as an Uber driver.
Thousands of documents were leaked to the newspaper, which then shared them with the international journalist network ICIJ. A total of 42 media houses around the world have participated in the project.
The newspaper Le Monde has, among other things, reported that Emmanuel Macron entered into a secret agreement with Uber when he was Minister of Trade and Industry from 2014 to 2016.
Exploited violence against own drivers
According to the revelation, Uber drivers were exposed to violent attacks, for example during protests in Paris in 2016. Uber drivers were subsidized and could cut prices, which threatened the taxi industry.
“In some cases, when the drivers were attacked, the chiefs of Uber quickly threw themselves around to take advantage of it so that they could get support from the population and from the legislators,” writes the Washington Post, one of the newspapers that has participated in the excavation project.
Acknowledges past mistakes
Uber says in a press release that mistakes have been made, but believes the responsibility belongs with the previous management under CEO Travis Kalanick. He was forced to resign in 2017 after allegations of brutal management practices and several episodes of sexual and psychological harassment in the company.
– We have gone from a time of confrontation to a time of cooperation and show a willingness to meet and find common ground with former opponents, including unions and taxi companies, the company writes.
Kalanick denies the allegations. A spokesman says he has never suggested that Uber exploit episodes of violence at the expense of drivers. He says he never consented to such a thing.
Had “stop button”
According to the media revelation, Uber must also have managed to circumvent the supervision of regulatory authorities because the company had better technological solutions.
The Washington Post writes that Kalanick introduced a “stop button” so that access to equipment from a company’s office in Amsterdam could be cut from elsewhere when the authorities were to search the premises.
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