Every reporter: Zhang Lingxiao Every editor: Tan Yuhan
Picture source: Visual China_VCG111318136540
On July 10, local time, an Uber confidential document (Uber Files) were exposed, which revealed that Uber (UBER, stock price $421.19, market value $41.61 billion) expanded its global business in various illegal ways from 2013 to 2017, including trying to lobby and recruit politicians in an effort to rewrite the law, maliciously using drivers to pave the way for its business expansion, and using technical means to obstruct law enforcement officials from investigating the data system.
Regarding the content of the document, Uber responded, "We have not and will not make excuses for past actions that are clearly inconsistent with our current values. On the contrary, we hope that the public can judge us based on what we have done in the past five years and our performance in the next few years." After the
document was exposed, Uber's stock price fell 5.15% on Monday to US$21.19%, and continued to fall 1.09% before the market opened on Tuesday.
Uber’s “relationship network” involves political figures from many countries
The leaked confidential documents contain more than 124,000 records involving emails, text messages and social media calls between Uber’s top leadership.
was confirmed by " Guardian " that the document was disclosed by Mark MacGann, a former top lobbyist for Uber's European department. McGann said he decided to make the documents public because he believed Uber was deliberately flouting laws in dozens of countries and creating misunderstandings about the benefits of Uber's gig economy model to drivers.
McGann, 52, admitted to the Guardian that as one of Uber’s most senior people, he was responsible for Uber’s actions and felt remorseful.
The Guardian shared this confidential document about Uber with the non-profit International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and excavated and analyzed the document. Information in the
document revealed that Uber founder Travis Kalanick (Travis Kalanick) established a complex network of relationships involving political and business figures from many countries during the company's international expansion, including internationally renowned political figures such as French Prime Minister Macron, US President Biden, and former European Commission Vice President Neely Cross.
In 2014, Uber got in touch with Emal Macron, then French Minister of Economy, and their "secret alliance" began. Documents show that in October 2014, Macron held a closed-door meeting with Kalanick and other Uber executives and made a lot of important "progress."
In the following years, Macron repeatedly stood up for Uber overtly and covertly, including publicly stating his approval of the Uber model, signing a decree relaxing the requirements for Uber driver licenses, and formulating a regulatory framework for ride-sharing services for Uber.
Regarding the relationship between Uber and Macron, a spokesman for the French President's Office argued on July 10: "His responsibilities require him to meet and communicate with the heads of many companies. In those years, companies in the service industry have undergone tremendous changes, and these changes must promote their (development) by lifting administrative and regulatory barriers."
in 201 During the Davos Conference in 2006, more than a dozen Uber executives participated in the conference, and through various intermediary relationships, they had secret meetings with world leaders including French President Macron, then US Vice President Biden, then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , then Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, and then Estonian President Thomas Hendrik Ilves. The
document shows that Uber spent as much as $90 million on lobbying and public relations in 2016 alone.
According to statistics, between 2014 and 2016, Uber executives held more than 100 meetings with high-level government officials in 17 countries. In order to better maintain relations with these politicians, rich people and top scholars, Uber also commissioned a consulting agency to develop a "stakeholder" list of more than 1,850 people in 29 countries around the world.
Encourage drivers to protest violently and use the "kill switch" to avoid inspections.
In addition to exerting influence in the political and business decision-making circles, Uber also uses drivers to implement radical expansion strategies.
In 2016, Uber expanded aggressively in the European market, squeezing the local taxi market and encountering strong protests from taxi drivers in Belgium, Spain, Italy and France. The
file shows that during protests in Paris, some taxi drivers triggered violent conflicts. Kalanick ordered French executives to "retaliate", that is, to encourage Uber drivers to protest in return, thereby further provoking antagonism between the two sides, triggering greater riots, and forcing the government to introduce countermeasures and amend the law.
In discussions among some Uber executives, Uber disclosed details of a near-fatal incident and attacks on other Uber drivers to the media in an effort to highlight a negative image of the taxi industry.
In fact, some executives worried that allowing Uber drivers to participate in protests would put the drivers at risk of violence, but Kalanick refuted it, "I think it is worth it." He said that violence is a guarantee of success.
html On July 10, a spokesperson for Kalanick stated that Kalanick never suggested that Uber use violence at the expense of driver safety; and, he never authorized any actions or plans that would obstruct justice in any country.In addition, Uber also used illegal technical means to evade a series of investigations by local law enforcement agencies.
As regulatory agencies in many countries are collecting evidence of Uber's illegal operations and have conducted multiple raids on the company's local offices, Uber has developed a technology called "kill switch " to respond to related searches. This technology can quickly cut off Uber's office equipment from access to the company's main data systems.
According to Uber's confidential documents, the "kill switch" has been enabled at least 12 times in countries such as France, the Netherlands, Belgium, India, Hungary, and Romania. has been tried and tested repeatedly, and law enforcement agencies have been helpless. One Uber executive even "proudly" said in a report message, "We have used this script many times, and the most difficult thing now is to pretend that we are surprised (by the outage)."
Regarding the use of this technology, an Uber spokesperson said that the "kill switch" was discontinued after Dara Khosrowshahi succeeded Kalanick as the new Uber CEO in 2017.
Daily Economic News
Daily Economic News
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