JAKARTA - Uber's internal documents have been leaked to the media. The Guardian published it and shared it with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), as well as dozens of other news outlets.
The leak outlines Uber's rugged strategy for global expansion. Even if the company has to break some rules. The leaks, collectively dubbed the Uber Files, consist of more than 124.000 documents spanning the period between 2013 and 2017.
Uber immediately responded to the leak in a post on its website, stating that it was "moving from an era of confrontation to an era of collaboration" after Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi took over the company following the resignation of founder, Travis Kalanick, in 2017.
According to The Guardian, the leak also "shows how Uber is trying to shore up support by covertly wooing prime ministers, presidents, billionaires, oligarchs and media barons."
In addition to memos, presentations, notebooks and other important documents, the leak includes "the exchange of emails, iMessages, and WhatsApp between the most senior executives of the Silicon Valley giant."
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An article from The Washington Post revealed the alleged use of Uber's "kill switch" to shut down the company's computer systems "to prevent successful authorities from investigating the company's business practices for disrupting the global taxi industry."
Another leak details how Uber is "using violent attacks" on drivers to advance its agenda. The report includes excerpts from the company's compiled "Dawn Raid Manual" that includes bullet points that say "never leave Regulators alone."
A report by the BBC focuses on French President Emmanuel Macron telling Uber's CEO he could reform laws in favor of the company. It also shows how former EU commissioner Neelie Kroes is negotiating to join his advisory board before leaving his last post in Europe. He reportedly informally lobbied on behalf of the company during the "cool-down" period before he joined.
When Uber began offering ride-sharing services worldwide, The Guardian reported executives “were under no illusions about the company's lawlessness, with one executive joking that they had become 'pirates.'”
In a 2014 message to a colleague, Uber's former head of global communications, Nairi Hourdajian, reportedly stated: "Sometimes we have issues because, well, we're totally illegal."
"We have not and will not make excuses for past behavior that is clearly inconsistent with our current values," Jill Hazelbaker, Uber's SVP of marketing and public affairs, wrote in Uber's response.
"Instead, we ask the public to judge us based on what we have done over the last five years and what we will do in the years to come," he added.
A spokesman for Travis Kalanick, Devon Spurgeon, provided a lengthy series of rebuttals published by the ICIJ, saying “Mr. Kalanick has never authorized or directed any illegal actions in Uber's expansion efforts in Russia, and in fact has very limited involvement in the expansion plans. and Mr. Kalanick never suggested that Uber take advantage of violence at the expense of driver safety ... In pressuring his false agenda that Mr. Kalanick directed illegal or inappropriate behavior, ICIJ claims to have documents that Mr. Kalanick was involved or even written, some of which are nearly a decade old."
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