Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick reportedly saw violence against drivers as a tool for growth

A new trove of leaked documents has cast an unfavorable light on Uber's early days. Dubbed Uber Files, the leak consists of approximately 124,000 internal company documents, including more than 83,000 emails and text messages between former CEO Travis Kalanick and other executives, which date from a period between 2013 and 2017. The latter marks the year in which Kalanick intervened. as CEO of Uber amid growing controversy.

In conjunction with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), The Guardian shared the treasure with 180 journalists at 40 outlets in 29 countries. The documents show a company willing to do things that many of its own executives thought were "fucking illegal."

In 2016, for example, Kalanick reportedly ordered French employees to encourage local Uber drivers to counter-protest against taxi strikes then underway in Paris. When an executive warned Kalanick that "far-right thugs" were part of the protest, the former CEO pushed back. "I think it's worth it," he said. “Violence guarantees success. And you have to stand up to these guys, right?"

A former senior executive told The Guardian thatKalanick's response was in line with a strategy of "arming" drivers and a playbook to which the company returned to other countries.

Another selection of documents details the company's efforts to evade regulatory scrutiny. In at least 12 cases, Uber has ordered staff at its local offices in six countries, including France, the Netherlands and India, to use the "kill switch", an internal tool developed by the company to protect your data.

“Please hit the kill switch ASAP,” Kalanick wrote in an email shared by The Washington Post. "Access must be closed in AMS," he added, referring to the company's Amsterdam office. In two cases involving Uber's office in Montreal, authorities entered the building to see all the computers and tablets in front of them reset at the same time. The company told The Post "such software should never have been used to thwart legitimate regulatory actions", and that it stopped using the system in 2017.

"We do not and will not make excuses for past behavior that is clearly inconsistent with our current values," said Jill Hazelbaker, senior vice president of marketing and public affairs at Uber, in a statement released by the company after The Guardian published its findings on Uber files. "Instead, we're asking the public to judge us on what we've done in the past five years and what we'll do in the years to come."

In a statement released by the ICIJ, a spokesperson for Travis Kalanick said any suggestion that the former executive "directed, engaged in, or was involved" in "illegal or improper conduct" is "completely wrong".

"The reality was that Uber's expansion initiatives were led by more than a hundred executives in dozens of countries around the world and at all times under the direct supervision and with the full approval of the Uber's strong legal, policy and compliance groups." they added.

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