What is whistleblowing?
Whistleblowing is often described as an act of civic responsibility. The whistleblower acts not only as an employee protecting their own interests, but as a person seeking to prevent harm and uphold legality, fairness, and accountability.
Whistleblowing is the act of reporting wrongdoing, illegal activities, unethical behavior, or safety risks within an organization to someone who can take action. Many countries have their own different whistleblowing laws.
A person who reports such misconduct is called a whistleblower.
Exemples of whistleblowing
- Reporting financial fraud in a company.
- Revealing corruption in a government agency.
- Reporting unsafe working conditions that could harm employees or the public.
- Exposing violations of environmental or health regulations.
Types of whistleblowing
- Internal whistleblowing – Reporting the issue to someone within the organization, such as a manager, ethics committee, or compliance department.
- External whistleblowing – Reporting the issue to outside authorities, regulators, law enforcement, or the media when internal reporting is ineffective or inappropriate.
Purpose
The main purpose of whistleblowing is to:
- Prevent harm to people or the environment.
- Promote accountability and transparency.
- Ensure laws, regulations, and ethical standards are followed.
The concept depends on which country you mean, because many countries have their own whistleblowing laws.
For example:
- United States: The main federal law is the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 (WPA). It protects federal employees who report violations of law, gross mismanagement, abuse of authority, waste of funds, or dangers to public health and safety from retaliation.
- European Union: The key legislation is Directive (EU) 2019/1937, known as the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive. It requires EU Member States to establish systems for reporting breaches of EU law and to protect whistleblowers. Whistleblowers are vital for maintaining an open and transparent society, as they expose misconduct or hidden threats. To ensure that they are better protected against negative consequences, The Directive came into force on 16 December 2019.
- Hungary: Since you appear to be in Hungary, the relevant law is Act XXV of 2023 on Complaints, Public Interest Disclosures and Rules Relating to the Reporting of Abuses. This Act implements the EU Directive and requires many employers to establish internal whistleblowing channels.
Whistleblowing is not just a complaint or report
Public interest is essential because it is what distinguishes whistleblowing from an ordinary complaint or personal grievance.
Whistleblowing is more than simply making a complaint or submitting a report.
A complaint often concerns a person’s private interest, such as dissatisfaction with a service, unfair treatment, or a workplace grievance affecting the complainant personally. A report may simply communicate information without any broader purpose.
Whistleblowing, however, involves the disclosure of information about wrongdoing that is in the public interest. The whistleblower reports conduct such as illegal activities, fraud, corruption, abuse of authority, threats to public health or safety, or other serious misconduct, with the aim of preventing harm and promoting accountability.
Therefore, the key distinction is that whistleblowing is motivated by the protection of the public interest rather than the pursuit of a purely personal remedy. While a whistleblower may also be personally affected by the wrongdoing, the disclosure concerns matters that extend beyond the individual’s private interests and could affect an organization, the public, or society as a whole.
- It justifies special legal protection
Whistleblowers often face serious risks: dismissal, demotion, harassment, blacklisting, or legal action. The law grants them protection because their disclosure serves a wider social purpose. If every personal dispute qualified as whistleblowing, these exceptional protections would lose their justification.
- It protects society from harm
The wrongdoing disclosed through whistleblowing typically affects others beyond the individual reporter. Examples include:
- corruption involving public funds,
- financial fraud affecting investors,
- unsafe products endangering consumers,
- environmental pollution,
- discrimination within institutions,
- threats to public health and safety.
The public interest element recognizes that exposing such misconduct benefits society as a whole.
- It balances competing interests
Disclosures can harm an organization’s reputation, reveal confidential information, or disrupt operations. Requiring a public interest dimension ensures that these consequences are justified by a sufficiently important social objective. The law therefore asks: Is this disclosure intended to address wrongdoing that matters beyond the individual’s private concerns?
- It prevents misuse of whistleblowing laws
Without the public interest requirement, any workplace disagreement could be labelled “whistleblowing.” The distinction helps separate:
- personal employment disputes (for example, dissatisfaction with promotion decisions), from
- disclosures of wrongdoing affecting others or the integrity of institutions.
- It reflects the moral basis of whistleblowing
Whistleblowing is often described as an act of civic responsibility. The whistleblower acts not only as an employee protecting their own interests, but as a person seeking to prevent harm and uphold legality, fairness, and accountability.
Why public interest is essential?
Is public interest always clear? Not necessarily. What’s more, it often falls victim to manipulation.
Courts and legislators increasingly recognize that a disclosure may involve both private and public interests. For example, an employee who reports being instructed to falsify financial records may have a personal concern about their employment situation, but the disclosure also protects shareholders, regulators, and the public. In such cases, the existence of a personal motive does not automatically exclude whistleblower status if the information disclosed genuinely serves the public interest.
In essence, public interest is the normative foundation of whistleblowing: it transforms a private complaint into a protected disclosure aimed at safeguarding the broader community.
The modern legal concept of public interest is secular, but its underlying values—concern for the common good, justice, truth, and the protection of others—have deep roots in the world’s major religious traditions. Although none of these religions uses the contemporary legal term “public interest,” each provides ethical principles that support actions taken for the welfare of the wider community, including speaking out against wrongdoing.
public interest in religious traditions
Judaism: Justice and Responsibility for the Community
In Judaism, the public good is closely connected to justice (tzedek), truth, and communal responsibility.
The Torah commands:
“Justice, justice shall you pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:20).
Jewish ethics emphasizes that individuals should not remain silent when they witness wrongdoing. The principle of “Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor” (Leviticus 19:16) imposes a positive duty to prevent harm to others when possible.
Thus, acting in the public interest means promoting justice, protecting the vulnerable, and preserving the moral integrity of the community.
Christianity: The Common Good and Love of Neighbor
Christian thought understands public interest through the idea of the common good.
Jesus taught:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39).
Christian social teaching holds that social institutions should be organized to enable all people to flourish. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines the common good as the social conditions that allow individuals and groups to reach their fulfillment more fully and easily.
Truth-telling and confronting injustice are therefore moral duties. Remaining silent in the face of corruption or harm may conflict with the Christian obligation to protect others.
Islam: Enjoining Good and Preventing Wrong
Islamic ethics contains one of the clearest formulations of public responsibility through the principle of:
al-amr bi’l-ma’ruf wa al-nahy ‘an al-munkar
(“enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong”).
The Qur’an states:
“Let there arise from among you a community inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong…” (Qur’an 3:104).
Islamic jurisprudence also recognizes the concept of maslahah (public welfare or public interest), according to which laws and actions should promote human well-being and prevent harm. Protection of religion, life, intellect, lineage, and property are regarded as fundamental objectives of the law (maqasid al-shari’ah).
Speaking out against injustice can therefore be understood as serving the public welfare.
Buddhism: Compassion and the Reduction of Suffering
Buddhism approaches public interest through compassion (karuṇā), wisdom, and the alleviation of suffering.
The Buddha taught ethical conduct based on non-harm (ahiṃsā) and right action. The Bodhisattva ideal in Mahāyāna Buddhism embodies a commitment to the welfare of all sentient beings.
The question is not primarily whether an action serves “the public” in a legal sense, but whether it reduces suffering and promotes human flourishing.
Exposing harmful conduct may be justified when motivated by compassion and aimed at preventing suffering rather than anger or revenge.
Hinduism: Dharma and Lokasaṃgraha
Hindu thought relates public interest to dharma (righteous duty and moral order) and lokasaṃgraha, often translated as “the welfare or maintenance of the world.”
In the Bhagavad Gītā (3:20–25), Krishna teaches that individuals, especially those in positions of responsibility, should act for the benefit of society:
“Whatever the best among men does, others also do.”
The concept of lokasaṃgraha encourages actions that preserve social harmony, justice, and collective well-being.
Protecting society from harmful conduct can therefore be viewed as fulfilling one’s dharma.
Comparative Perspective
| Religion | Core Concept Related to Public Interest | Ethical Emphasis |
|---|---|---|
| Judaism | Justice (tzedek), responsibility to others | Prevent harm and pursue justice |
| Christianity | The common good, love of neighbor | Protect human dignity and social welfare |
| Islam | Maslahah and enjoining good | Promote welfare and prevent wrongdoing |
| Buddhism | Compassion (karuṇā) and non-harm | Reduce suffering and benefit others |
| Hinduism | Dharma and lokasaṃgraha | Preserve moral order and collective welfare |
Relevance to Whistleblowing
These traditions suggest that the moral foundation of whistleblowing extends beyond modern legislation. Although expressed in different theological languages, they share the view that individuals have responsibilities not only to themselves but also to the wider community. Truthfulness, justice, compassion, and the prevention of harm justify speaking out when silence would allow wrongdoing to continue.
Therefore, the requirement that whistleblowing serve the public interest reflects a long-standing ethical intuition found across diverse religious traditions: the welfare of the community can, in certain circumstances, require individuals to disclose and oppose wrongdoing.
The world’s major religions are the belief systems that most profoundly shape humanity’s culture, ethics, and worldview. From a geographical and cultural perspective, we distinguish five main branches: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism.
Pew Research Centre‘s 2025 report on religious changes from 2010-2020, had Christians as the world’s largest group at 2.3 billion representing 28.8%, 2 billion Muslims at 25.6%, 1.9 billion Religiously unaffiliated at 24.2%, 1.2 billion Hindus at 14.9%, 300 million Buddhists at 4.1%, 200 million Other religions at 2.2%, and 10 million Jews at 0.2%.
Largest religious groups
| Religion |
Followers (billions) |
Cultural tradition | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christianity | 2.3 | Abrahamic religions | Judaea (Middle East), c. 30 CE |
| Islam | 2.0 | Abrahamic religions | Hejaz (Middle East), c. 610 CE |
| Irreligion | 1.9 | Secularism | Worldwide |
| Hinduism | 1.2 | Indian religions | Indian subcontinent, c. 20th to 17th century BCE |
| Buddhism | 0.3 | Indian religions | Indian subcontinent, c. 5th century BCE |
| Folk religion | 0.2 | Regional | Worldwide |