Uber consistently circumvented regulations, thwarted police and secretly courted lawmakers to pave the way for its questionable practices as it expanded into new cities around the world, according to leaked documents obtained by The Guardian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ride-share service and Silicon Valley giant is under investigation for unethical practices after a plethora of explosive texts, emails, memos and other documents were provided to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
e documents span the company\u2019s operations from 2013 to 2017 under Travis Kalanick, its billionaire co-founder. As the company rapidly expanded into new cities around the world \u2014 and faced vast global backlash for defying regional laws \u2014 top executives privately acknowledged their practices and laughed them off in internal communications with Kalanick, according to The Guardian and ICIJ. One executive even referred to the group as \u201cpirates\u201d and said that \u201cwe\u2019re just fucking illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During this period, Uber tried to recover its image by courting politicians, including President Emmanuel Macron of France. Texts show how Macron went out of his way to bolster Uber\u2019s growth in France and allowed the company to maintain regular communication with his immediate staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is just one of many government leaders, billionaires and media moguls the company secretly lobbied to cover up what the reports say were unlawful practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When one executive raised concerns about Uber drivers facing potential violence from angry competitors in the taxi industry, Kalanick reportedly said that \u201cI think it\u2019s worth it\u201d and that \u201cviolence guarantees success.\u201d A Kalanick spokesperson denied that he ever suggested exploiting violence against the app\u2019s drivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Devon Spurgeon, the spokesperson for Kalanick, the former CEO, said the Consortium for Investigative Journalists was putting forward a \u201cfalse agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn pressing its false agenda that Mr. Kalanick directed illegal or improper conduct, the ICIJ claims to have documents that Mr. Kalanick was on or even authored, some of which are almost a decade old,\u201d she added. \u201cTellingly, the ICIJ flatly rejected requests to review any of those documents, which further exacerbates concerns about many of the source documents\u2019 authenticity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the company needed data to influence policymakers, according to The Guardian\u2019s report, it also paid academics to publish research that would bolster its misleading economic claims about the company\u2019s business model \u2014 which offered unsustainably low prices as it entered new cities to ensure winning out over local taxi competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response to the leak, Uber issued a statement acknowledging \u201cmistakes and missteps,\u201d but insisted that current leadership had transformed the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than 180 journalists are investigating the \u201cUber Files\u201d and will be publishing a series of reports dissecting over 124,000 documents in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n