In 2016, during massive anti-Uber protests by taxi drivers in Paris, Kalanick discussed holding a rally of Uber riders and drivers in the city, according to the Washington Post. Kalanick is said to have privately suggested that any violent reaction to the potential event would be “worth it” and “guarantee success” for the company, according to the leaked documents. The leaked documents reportedly show how Uber appeared to exploit the attacks on its drivers more generally, citing them “to secure meetings with politicians and push for regulatory changes,” the Post reported. In a broader statement to the consortium responding to some of the reports, Devon Spurgeon, a spokesman for Kalanick, said the former CEO “never suggested that Uber should exploit violence at the expense of rider safety.” Spurgeon confirmed the statement to CNN Business, but declined to comment further. Uber also reportedly used a “kill switch” to prevent the company’s data from falling into the hands of law enforcement during numerous police raids in various countries, according to The Guardian, on a much broader basis than what was previously known. The kill switch was reportedly deployed in six countries, including France, the Netherlands, Belgium, India, Hungary and Romania, cutting off connections between Uber’s computers in its local offices from the company’s main cloud network. Spurgeon’s statement to the ICIJ said the use of the tool had been approved by Uber’s legal and regulatory teams and was never “designed or implemented to ‘obstruct justice’.” with Emmanuel Macron, who was then serving as France’s finance minister and met at least four times with Kalanick. The pair reportedly developed a relationship under his name, and Macron told Kalanick that he could help make changes to French law that would be favorable to the company. The BBC cited a statement from Macron’s spokesman that his work at the time “took him to meet and interact with many companies involved in the rapid change … in the services sector, which had to be facilitated by unlocking administrative and regulatory barriers”. And in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to expand into Russia, Uber and Kalanick tried to pander to oligarchs and allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the ICIJ. While the leaked documents do not suggest that Uber violated US sanctions, the Washington Post reported, “almost everyone with whom Uber allied at the time has been sanctioned for their alleged ties to Putin by US or European authorities.” . Spurgeon’s statement to ICIJ said that during a 2016 visit to Russia organized by Uber’s policy and business development teams, Kalanick “acted at all times legally and with the express approval and authorization of Uber’s legal team.” ” Kalanick stepped down as CEO of Uber in 2017 after months of public relations crises, including a tool he allegedly built to help drivers evade law enforcement in cities like Portland, Oregon, where he was not allowed to operate. Uber has since tried to turn over a new leaf, replacing Kalanick with Dara Khosrowshahi, the former chief executive of Expedia. In a statement posted on its website, Uber distanced itself from its “mistakes prior to 2017,” which the company acknowledged “resulted in one of the most infamous miscalculations in the history of corporate America.” “We have not and will not condone past behavior that is clearly inconsistent with our current values,” Uber spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker said in the statement, adding that 90 percent of Uber’s current employees joined the company after the leadership change. But the leaked documents show that despite Uber’s efforts to move on from its past, the company may continue to be haunted by it in the future.
