Exclusive: Uber broke laws, duped police and built secret lobbying operation, UberFiles leak reveals
, Kalanick’s spokesperson said he “never suggested that Uber should take advantage of violence at the expense of driver safety” and any suggestion he was involved in such activity would be completely false., who secretly helped the company in France when he was economy minister, allowing Uber frequent and direct access to him and his staff.
When the then US vice-president, Joe Biden, a supporter of Uber at the time, was late to a meeting with the company at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Kalanick texted a colleague: “I’ve had my people let him know that every minute late he is, is one less minute he will have with me.” “We have not and will not make excuses for past behaviour that is clearly not in line with our present values,” it said. “Instead, we ask the public to judge us by what we’ve done over the last five years and what we will do in the years to come.”
In a bid to quell the fierce backlash against the company and win changes to taxi and labour laws, Uber planned to spend an extraordinary $90m in 2016 on lobbying and public relations, one document suggests. While the Davos sitdown with Osborne was declared, the data reveals that six UK Tory cabinet ministers had meetings with Uber that were not disclosed. It is unclear if the meetings should have been declared, exposing confusion around how UK lobbying rules are applied.
Despite a well-financed and dogged lobbying operation, Uber’s efforts had mixed results. In some places Uber succeeded in persuading governments to rewrite laws, with lasting effects. But elsewhere, the company found itself blocked by entrenched taxi industries, outgunned by local cab-hailing rivals or opposed by leftwing politicians who simply refused to budge.
Warned that doing so risked putting Uber drivers at risk of attacks from “extreme right thugs” who had infiltrated the taxi protests and were “spoiling for a fight”, Kalanick appeared to urge his team to press ahead regardless. “I think it’s worth it,” he said. “Violence guarantee[s] success. And these guys must be resisted, no? Agreed that right place and time must be thought out.”
Driver victims were encouraged to file police reports, which were shared with De Telegraaf, the leading Dutch daily newspaper. They “will be published without our fingerprint on the front page tomorrow”, one manager wrote. “We keep the violence narrative going for a few days, before we offer the solution.”
In internal emails, staff referred to Uber’s “other than legal status”, or other forms of active non-compliance with regulations, in countries including Turkey, South Africa, Spain, the Czech Republic, Sweden, France, Germany, and Russia.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Uber broke laws, duped police and built secret lobbying operation, leak reveals124,000 documents expose inner workings behind US tech firm’s rise as a global empire responsible for 19m journeys a day
Read more »
‘Kill switch’: Uber used stealth tech to avoid regulation around the world: reportAn investigation of leaked Uber documents names French President Emmanuel Macron among world leaders offering support to Uber during its aggressive launch.
Read more »
Uber Files reveal company used 'kill switch' to thwart evidence-gathering in raids, investigation findsUber lobbied political leaders to relax labour and taxi laws and considered portraying violence against its drivers as a way to gain public sympathy, the files show.
Read more »
Morning mail: the Uber files, female voters drift from Coalition, Djokovic takes WimbledonMonday: An unprecedented leak has laid bare the inside story of the tech giant. Plus: could positive thinking be making us feel less secure?
Read more »
Uber broke laws, duped police and built secret lobbying operation, leak reveals124,000 documents expose inner workings behind US tech firm’s rise as a global empire responsible for 19m journeys a day
Read more »
Uber Files reveal company used 'kill switch' to thwart evidence-gathering in raids, investigation findsUber lobbied political leaders to relax labour and taxi laws and considered portraying violence against its drivers as a way to gain public sympathy, the files show.
Read more »