Knowledge shocks and digital whistleblowing: rethinking transparency and organisational change

Purpose This paper aims to reframe whistleblowing in the digital era, as exemplified by the 2016 Panama Papers, WikiLeaks and Cambridge Analytica disclosures, not as individual ethical acts but as systemic knowledge shocks that disrupt the creation, circulation, interpretation and governance of information across digital environments. It examines how digitally mediated disclosures reshape communication processes, knowledge flows, organisational responses and institutional accountability. Design/methodology/approach The study develops a conceptual synthesis based on scholarly analyses of the three cases. The Panama Papers sparked global transparency debates and tax governance reforms. Cambridge Analytica triggered normative shifts in data privacy and regulatory frameworks. WikiLeaks influenced diplomatic practices and institutional approaches to secrecy. From these, we derive a cross-level framework detailing how digital leaks travel through networked information environments, destabilise legitimacy, diffuse governance norms and prompt organisational reconfiguration. Findings The paper introduces knowledge shocks as sudden or rapidly escalating disclosures of previously controlled information that become digitally amplified and organisationally consequential. Three mechanisms are identified: legitimacy erosion, diffusion of transparency and accountability norms and structural reconfiguration to restore institutional trust. These mechanisms are shaped not only by disclosure content but also by visibility, circulation, interpretation and digital amplification. Research limitations/implications Organisations must develop adaptive governance structures resilient to transparency shocks. Policymakers should fortify whistleblower protections and institutional oversight. Civil society can leverage these revelations strategically for accountability and reform. Originality/value The study moves beyond traditional whistleblowing theories to propose a novel conceptual construct that integrates digital information environments, knowledge communication, information governance, organisational theory and socio-political transformation. This interdisciplinary framing enriches understanding of how knowledge functions dynamically in the digital age as an information object whose movement across platforms, networks, media systems and institutional boundaries can reconfigure organisational and societal relations.