By Giovana Sanchez
Joining the ranks of anonymous whistleblower platforms that have emerged around the world in recent years, eight media and nonprofit organizations have launched an online platform enabling Peruvian citizens to leak information to journalists.
Perúleaks, an "independent platform for citizen-leaked information and transparency," was launched on March 29 in Lima. The site provides a secure environment for sending evidence of crimes and offenses to be investigated by the participating organizations.
David Hidalgo, news director of participating organization Ojo Público, told the Knight Center that the initiative is "an interesting effort to promote digital security of journalists and their potential sources on relevant issues related to corruption, organized crime, etc.”
According to the project’s website, "advanced technologies" ensure that the complaint is anonymous, protecting the source and researchers.
The person submitting the information can choose which organization sees the information. The organizations working on the project are digital news site Ojo Público, investigative site Convoca, magazine Poder, digital journalism platform La mula, news site Utero, newspaper La República, digital rights organization Hiperderecho and transparency organization Project PODER.
Once the information is sent, journalists and researchers work to confirm its veracity and, if appropriate, publish the news, according to the project’s website.
The project is part of the international network Associated Whistleblowing Press, an anti-corruption and human-rights organization based in Belgium.
According to Hidalgo, Peruleaks is the Peruvian version of Méxicoleaks, a "platform that has facilitated important leaks that led to important journalistic investigations."
As part of the project, news organizations in Mexico have published stories on alleged destruction of archaeological sites, official spending, government contracts and more.
Méxicoleaks was one of five organizations around the world to be recognized in the field of digital activism for the 2016 Freedom of Expression Awards by the Index on Censorship.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
