News
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10 March 2011
Utah Restricts Access to Records Despite Protests
Utah Governor Gary Herbert Match 8 signed controversial legislation that critics say will restrict access to government records. Instead of vetoing the bill, as opponents urged, Herbert signed a version of the bill that was altered slightly, to delay its effective date until July 1. This gap is intended to allow time for the potential […]
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7 March 2011
Sierra Leone Minister Says FOI Bill to Pass This Week
The Sierra Leone Minister of information and Communication, Ibrahim Ben Kargbo, said March 4 that the freedom of information bill will become law this week, according to a media report. The vote did not occur, however. A quorum could not be mustered because opposition parliamentarians out of town to campaign for re-election, a key activist […]
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7 March 2011
Critics Ask Guyana Officials to Fulfill FOI Promise
Unfulfilled government promises to offer an access to information bill is frustrating supporters of more transparency in Guyana, according to articles in Kaieteur News. The Alliance for Change was organizing picketing on March 3 because of the delay, according to one report. Government officials, including Head of State Bharrat Jagdeo, have said that the bill […]
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7 March 2011
Selangor Revises Proposed FOI Legislation
The Malaysian state of Selangor has revised its draft freedom of information legislation, making improvements to it, according to civil society activists following the process. The first draft of the FOI bill was criticized as too restrictive. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) The revisions are an improvement, according to the civil society groups because they include […]
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7 March 2011
U.S. Court Rejects Navy Use of Personnel Exemption
The United States Supreme Court March 7 said the government could not stretch the personnel exemption to withhold Navy data and maps predicting the extent of potential damage from the explosion of an ammunition dump. The justices voted 8-1 to overturn an appeals court ruling that had supported the Navy’s decision not to release to the information under […]
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4 March 2011
Nigerian Senate President Says FOI Bill Needs Change
The president of the Nigerian Senate March 3 said that a freedom of information bill will pass before next month’s elections, but suggested that changes are necessary. While saying that half a bill would be better than no bill, he offered no specifics, according to news reports, but stressed a need for the media to be responsible […]
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4 March 2011
Indian Government Moves Slightly on FOI Word Limit
The Indian government has backed down somewhat from its proposal to limit the length of freedom of information requests to 250 words. Five hundred words would be permitted, according to a Times of India report, which credited the movement to the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC). The council has previously criticized the proposed new […]
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4 March 2011
New Murder in India Sparks Roy Demand for Protections
Aruna Roy, the convener of the Indian National Advisory Council’s group on transparency on March 3 requested that the council examine a proposed whistleblower bill that she said would be “wholly inadequate” to stop the killing of Right to Information Act users. She also demanded an official probe a probe into the killing of Jharkhand activist Niyamat […]
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4 March 2011
Aussie Group Launches Alternative Access Site
Frustrated by a government agency’s unwillingness to post public comments online, an Australian group has launched a website to archive such comments: http://opendecisions.net/opendecisions/ “Normal practice for government departments seeking feedback on policy changes is to publish all submissions received on the web,” explains the website. The founders were irked that the Attorney General’s office decied […]
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4 March 2011
Indian CIC, Planning Agency Debate RTI Coverage
The Indian Central Information Commission (CIC) has proposed bringing more transparency to the private corporations participating in the government’s public private partnership (PPP) programs, but the request appears to be meeting with resistance, or not. The story began when the CIC asked the Planning Commission to insert an right to information clause into agreements with the private partners. However, […]
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4 March 2011
Reports Faults Georgia on FOI Responses, Websites
The Georgian freedom of information law needs reform to prevent public officials from hiding information, according to one of two new reports by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI). In another report, the institute strongly criticizes the websites of public institutions. The conclusions in Electronic Transparency in Georgia were based on audits […]
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1 March 2011
One Jonathan Adviser Undercuts Another on FOI Bill
The Special Adviser to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Media, Imma Niboro, has distanced the president from remarks by another presidential advisor that were sharply critical of the pending freedom of information bill. Nibora told reporters March 1 that Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters, Mohammed Abba-Aji, was speaking only for himself when he strongly […]
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1 March 2011
U.S. Top Court Denies AT&T Use of Personal Exemption
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-0 March 1that corporations do not have a right of personal privacy under freedom of information laws. “We trust that AT&T will not take it personally,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote at the conclusion of his opinion for the court. AT&T sought to use the “personal privacy” exemption […]
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1 March 2011
Adviser to Nigerian President Opposes FOI Legislation
Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on National Assembly Matters, former senator Mohammed Abba Aji, vowed Feb. 28 to scuttle freedom of information legislation. The leader of a key Senate committee, however, told The Vanguard newspaper that the bill will pass. FOI legislation recently passed in the House (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) Chairman of the […]
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1 March 2011
Aquino Study of FOI Bill Decried by Supporters
The Aquino administration has created an inter-agency team to draft its own freedom of information bill, a move that the pro-FOI coalition said “could simply throw a monkey wrench” into the process. At a press briefing, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the administration is seeking to balance privacy and the right to information, according to […]
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28 February 2011
World Bank Report Critical of Nepal RTI Implementation
The implementation of the right to information law in Nepal “has so far been weak,” according to a new report from the World Bank. Public bodies “have done little to meet their extensive obligations under the law,” the 37-page report says, continuing, “… many have not even appointed dedicated information officers and most of the […]
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28 February 2011
Access to Information Poor in Cyprus, Research Finds
Only one out of four requests for information from public bodies in Cyprus even got a response, according to a comprehensive report that calls for major reforms. The Open Cyprus Project asked for information from 20 public bodies in Cyprus, submitting 393 information requests. They were met with “administrative silence” in the Republic of Cyprus […]
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25 February 2011
Rwanda Cabinet Considering Revised Access Legislation
A revised draft Access to Information Bill is now pending before the Rwandan Cabinet, whose approval is necessary prior to Parliament’s action. The new draft legislation recently won praise from the London-based freedom of expression group Article 19. “The bill sets out progressive standards on access to information including a strong public interest test, short […]
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25 February 2011
The Case for Freedom of Information in Ghana
By Yakubu Abdulai The writer is a student of Tsinghua University in Beijing. He is currently pursuing a Masters degree in International Development. Hardly a day passes without any media house carrying stories relating to corruption in Ghana. Some of them are high level corruption cases whilst others are simple petty corruption. Corruptions usually starts […]
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25 February 2011
FOI Notes: EU Online Public Services, US Reports, New Journal
European Union: A new report says the average availability of online public services in the EU went up from 69% to 82% from 2009 to 2010. Declaration: Activists gathered at the World Social Forum’s Assembly on the Right to Communication issued the following declaration Feb. 11, 2011. United States: The Aspen Institute Communications and Society […]