An anonymous accusation on it’s own will not make a difference. But that’s not the utility of it. The point is to get the ball rolling: to shift the environment so as to make it easier for people to speak up.
Suppose a prominent figure X has engaged in unethical behavior. Employee A knows about the behaviour, but can’t speak up about it without being retaliated against. Persons B and C have each seen some sketchy behaviour by X, but are unsure if it was just a one-off. Person D is a respected figure that would be horrified by X’s actions, but are unaware of them.
If A posts an anonymous accusation, B and C can realize that their sketchy observations match up with the account, and lend it credibility, prompting D to investigate the issue independently and confirming that the account is correct, prompting X to be kicked out. None of this would have happened without the anonymous whistleblowing from A.
Whistleblowing on bad behavior is good. I encourage people to do so publicly, but if you are unwilling or unable to do so, doing so anonymously is the second best option.
Can you name examples of this working? Because I’ve seen a good number of anonymous public accusations on this forum and I don’t recall any that led to the outcome you describe. I understand this theory of change but it sure doesn’t seem to work that way in real life.
In contrast I know of many cases where backchannel reporting to trusted third parties has led to results. If someone is not willing to speak up publicly, then using whisper networks or official reporting channels has a much better track record compared to making burner accusations on the EA forum. I am somewhat worried about people making an ineffective burner account post and feeling like they’ve done their job when otherwise they would’ve mustered up their courage and told the conference organizer.
An anonymous accusation on it’s own will not make a difference. But that’s not the utility of it. The point is to get the ball rolling: to shift the environment so as to make it easier for people to speak up.
Suppose a prominent figure X has engaged in unethical behavior. Employee A knows about the behaviour, but can’t speak up about it without being retaliated against. Persons B and C have each seen some sketchy behaviour by X, but are unsure if it was just a one-off. Person D is a respected figure that would be horrified by X’s actions, but are unaware of them.
If A posts an anonymous accusation, B and C can realize that their sketchy observations match up with the account, and lend it credibility, prompting D to investigate the issue independently and confirming that the account is correct, prompting X to be kicked out. None of this would have happened without the anonymous whistleblowing from A.
Whistleblowing on bad behavior is good. I encourage people to do so publicly, but if you are unwilling or unable to do so, doing so anonymously is the second best option.
Can you name examples of this working? Because I’ve seen a good number of anonymous public accusations on this forum and I don’t recall any that led to the outcome you describe. I understand this theory of change but it sure doesn’t seem to work that way in real life.
In contrast I know of many cases where backchannel reporting to trusted third parties has led to results. If someone is not willing to speak up publicly, then using whisper networks or official reporting channels has a much better track record compared to making burner accusations on the EA forum. I am somewhat worried about people making an ineffective burner account post and feeling like they’ve done their job when otherwise they would’ve mustered up their courage and told the conference organizer.