The Uber Files: Dean Starkman Serves as Senior Editor

“The Uber Files probe is an X-ray into how multinationals use high-powered lobbyists to game the system. I hope it also offers some clues as to how to fix it,” CMDS Fellow Dean Starkman says about the latest ICIJ investigation in which he served as senior editor.

The Uber Files, the latest investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, reveals how the company won access to political leaders, often in secret, duped investigators, upended workers’ rights and tried to hobble government probes as it barged into new markets in the face of fierce resistance.

Our Fellow Dean Starkman served as senior editor on the project. He summarized it by saying,

“The Uber Files investigation shows the ease with which Uber executives gained access to – and were able to influence – powerful democratically elected leaders. Most notable for me is that how it was centrist/center left figures – Obama administration veterans, Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and others – who most closely embraced the model that would upend labor protections in the taxi business. The intimacy between Macron and Uber lobbyists is especially striking.  All the while, Uber was brazenly flouting local transportation laws, upending workers’ rights and trying to hobble government investigations using stealth technology and other deceptive tactics. The lack of regard for the rule of law was almost built into the model.”

He thinks the issue covered in the Uber Files is ultimately people’s trust in the system.

“With democracy in trouble everywhere, people need to believe that the system works, that the process is fair, and that everyone is playing by the same set of rules,” he says. The investigation reveals that this is not the case with multinationals, but he hopes it offers clues to fix the problems.

Image: Automobile Italia / Flickr