"We have not justified and do not make excuses for behavior that is inconsistent with our current values as a company," said Jill Hazelbaker, Uber's vice president of public affairs, in a statement. an online press release.
“We ask the public to judge us on what we have done in the past five years and what we will do in the years to come,” she added.
The Guardian, a British daily, obtained and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) some 124,000 documents, dated from 2013 to 2017, including emails and messages from Uber executives at the time, as well as presentations, notes and invoices.
On Sunday, several news organizations (including the Washington Post, Le Monde and the BBC) published their first articles from these "Uber Files".
They highlight certain methods employed during these years of rapid expansion but also of confrontation for Uber, from Paris to Johannesburg.
"The company has broken the law, deceived police and regulators, exploited violence against drivers and secretly lobbied governments around the world," the Guardian said in its introduction.
The articles mention in particular messages from Travis Kalanick, then boss of the San Francisco-based company, when executives worried about the risks for the drivers whom Uber encouraged to participate in a demonstration in Paris.
"I think it's worth it," the co-founder told them.
"Violence guarantees success".
According to the Guardian, Uber has adopted similar tactics in various European countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy...), mobilizing drivers and encouraging them to complain to the police when they were victims of violence, in order to to use media coverage to obtain concessions from the authorities.
"Mr. Kalanick has never suggested that Uber exploits violence at the expense of driver safety," reacted Devon Spurgeon, spokesperson for the controversial former leader, in a statement published by the ICIJ, where he denies all charges.
"Today, Uber is one of the world's largest work platforms and an integral part of the daily lives of 100 million people. We have moved from an era of confrontation to an era of collaboration, demonstrating a will to find common ground with former opponents, including unions and taxi companies", elaborates Jill Hazelbaker.
© 2022 AFP