The US has an overclassification problem, which includes classifying documents about Santa Claus.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Freedom of information
Displaying 1 - 20 of 30 articles
Police body cameras have the potential to make private details about people’s lives, including some of the most stressful experiences of their lives, public and easily accessible online
During the coronavirus pandemic, digitizing archives can help increase access. But in addition to the labour and financial costs, issues of privacy, copyright and resources need to be considered.
The news Foxtel received a speedy funding boost as the ABC faces another round of damaging cost cuts will raise eyebrows. And questions about how we spend taxpayers’ money.
Blocking citizen requests for information on a fund set up for COVID-19 relief undermines public trust in the government’s response to the pandemic.
One more casualty of the coronavirus pandemic: open government. Since the crisis began, local, state and federal officials throughout the United States have locked down information from the public.
In 1999, ahead of World Trade Organisation protests, a group of Australian activists created the first open internet publishing platform. This technology is the basis of the internet we know today.
When India goes to polls in 2019, the incumbent BJP government will have much to answer about its record on accountability.
As a Canadian federal election year dawns, an alternative approach to freedom-of-information legislation is an urgent need.
There is a strong case to be made that WhatsApp messages are subject to the Freedom of Information Act in the same way as email and others forms of text messages.
It’s increasingly difficult for investigative journalists to hold governments to account – partly due to anti-terror and security laws making it harder for whistleblowers to act.
The actions of the Coalition government speak louder than words in its commitment to open government.
Successive Australian governments have dehumanised refugees and kept Australians in the dark about what really goes on in the offshore detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island.
Data-driven algorithms drive decision-making in ways that touch our economic, social and civic lives. But they contain inherent biases and assumptions that are too often invisible to the public.
Whether they charge for FoI searches or not, it’s still too hard to access government information.
Politicians hate secrecy when in opposition but grow to love it when in power.
The use of private messaging apps that bypass government IT raise troubling issues for oversight and freedom of information.
In a year and a half the Abbott government managed, in practice, to undo the painstaking reforms of the federal Freedom of Information (FOI) system.
Cancer Council Victoria is contesting British American Tobacco’s request for survey data about teenagers’ smoking habits. Here’s the story of a UK research group who faced a similar request.
Restricting entities such as tobacco companies’ use of FOI laws is not the best legal response if it helps public bodies generally become more secretive.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor, School of Media, Film and Journalism, Monash University
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Director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and Professor of British and Commonwealth History, School of Advanced Study, University of London
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Associate Professor, School of Law, University of Canberra
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Lecturer in Politics, Birkbeck, University of London
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PhD Candidate in Social Anthropology, SOAS, University of London
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Associate Professor, School of Journalism, University of Arizona
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Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of Melbourne
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James Martin Research Fellow, University of Oxford
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Professor at the Institute for Social Marketing, University of Stirling
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Adjunct Professor, National Centre for Australian Studies, Monash University
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Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Technology Sydney
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Senior Lecturer in News and Digital Journalism, City, University of London
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Professor of Journalism, Columbia University
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Senior Lecturer in Intelligence Studies, University of Salford
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Associate Professor of Communication Studies, Northwestern University
