As Uber aggressively pushed into markets around the world, the ride-sharing service lobbied political leaders to relax labor and taxi laws, used a B次元官网网址渒ill switchB次元官网网址� to thwart regulators and law enforcement, channeled money through Bermuda and other tax havens and considered portraying violence against its drivers as a way to gain public sympathy,
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a nonprofit network of investigative reporters, scoured internal Uber texts, emails, invoices and other documents to deliver what it called B次元官网网址渁n unprecedented look into the ways Uber defied taxi laws and upended workersB次元官网网址� rights.B次元官网网址�
The documents were first leaked to the Brtiish newspaper The Guardian, which shared them with the consortium.
Uber spokesperson Jill Hazelbaker acknowledged B次元官网网址渕istakesB次元官网网址� in the past and said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, hired in 2017, had been B次元官网网址渢asked with transforming every aspect of how Uber operates B次元官网网址� When we say Uber is a different company today, we mean it literally: 90% of current Uber employees joined after Dara became CEO.B次元官网网址�
Founded in 2009, Uber sought to skirt taxi regulations and offer inexpensive transportation via a ride-sharing app. The consortiumB次元官网网址檚 Uber Files revealed the extraordinary lengths that the company undertook to establish itself in nearly 30 countries.
The companyB次元官网网址檚 lobbyists B次元官网网址� including former aides to President Barack Obama B次元官网网址� pressed government officials to drop their investigations, rewrite labor and taxi laws and relax background checks on drivers, the papers show.
The investigation found that Uber used B次元官网网址渟tealth technologyB次元官网网址� to fend off government investigations. The company, for example, used a B次元官网网址渒ill switchB次元官网网址� that cut access to Uber servers and blocked authorities from grabbing evidence during raids in at least six countries. During a police raid in Amsterdam, the Uber Files reported, former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick personally issued an order: B次元官网网址淧lease hit the kill switch ASAP B次元官网网址� Access must be shut down in AMS (Amsterdam).B次元官网网址�
The consortium also reported that Kalanick saw the threat of violence against Uber drivers in France by aggrieved taxi drivers as a way to gain public support. B次元官网网址淰iolence guarantee(s) success,B次元官网网址� Kalanick texted colleagues.
In a response to the consortium, Kalanick spokesman Devon Spurgeon said the former CEO B次元官网网址渘ever suggested that Uber should take advantage of violence at the expense of driver safety.B次元官网网址�
The Uber Files say the company cut its tax bill by millions of dollars by sending profits through Bermuda and other tax havens, then B次元官网网址渟ought to deflect attention from its tax liabilities by helping authorities collect taxes from its drivers.B次元官网网址�
The Associated Press
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