The "institutionalization" of non-human intermediaries in the whistleblowing process: the emblematic case of Spain

Taking inspiration from studies that investigate the role of whistleblowers as regulatory intermediaries (Kampourakis 2021), this paper shed light on the intermediaries of whistleblowers themselves. Indeed, although the research on whistleblowing and technological advances is growing, few studies have investigated the relationship between the different human actors (such as civil society organizations and anti-corruption authorities) and non-humans (intended as dedicated technologies such as encrypted email or specific digital platforms) involved in enabling the information disclosure on wrongdoing. Looking at the diffusion within the Spanish context of the digital whistleblowing platforms based on the open-source software GlobaLeaks, this study analyses how this “non-human intermediary” was adopted firstly by Xnet, a local group of activists during a corruption scandal and, secondly, how this collective actor together with activists involved in the GlobaLeaks project fostered the adoption of the same technological “solution” also by institutional actors, in particular, the anti-corruption authorities of Valencia and Catalunya Regions. Adopting a qualitative research design based on Constructivist Grounded Theory, the analysis rests on documents and semi-structured interviews conducted in 2022 with activists, tech developers, and public servants. This research points out the “institutionalization” of a non-human intermediary and reconstructs how this process was fostered by collaborative relations between top-down and bottom-up actors involved in the fight against corruption.