India: The Central Information Commission has ruled that the Cabinet Secretariat cannot deny access to the items on the agenda placed before the Union Cabinet after a meeting is over. A copy of the CIC’s order along with related documents and a detailed write-up about this case are accessible on the website of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
Open Social Media: “Given the power of algorithms in shaping our information ecosystem perhaps as well as their clear imperfections, perhaps it is time for social media companies to think about creating the position of “Algorithm Ombudsman” – an outsider who would be given privileged access to a company’s algorithm in order to ensure that the public good was being taken into account,” writes Daniel O’Maley in the Center for Media Assistance blog.
United Kingdom: A report by mySociety analyzes the FOI requests made in its platform. Among the conclusions:
If Local Authorities proactively publish more granular information about the policy areas we now know citizens are actively interested in, they may see a dip in formal FOI requests.
Publishing information and data in a machine-readable format may even enable other civic technologists like ourselves to build tools to assist councils in their delivery of vital services. Whilst this will not eradicate FOI requests completely, it would hopefully begin a shift in behaviour.
United States: A look at FOI in The Atlantic by Ron Fournier includes the comment: “It’s about to get worse. Judging from their actions, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are to transparency what Kryptonite is to Superman.”
United States: Dan Metcalfe, the Founding Director of the Justice Department’s Office of Information and Privacy, discusses in Law Newz the Hillary Clinton e-mail controversy, describing the laws involved and their weaknesses.
United States: “On May 15th, a broad coalition of open government and accountability organizations and media outlets are launching a “50 Days of FOIA” campaign — counting down the days to the 50th anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on July 4, 2016,” according to an announcement.
India: The Central Information Commission issued show cause notices to five national parties concerning their non-compliance with a 2013 order bringing them under the ambit of the RTI Act, The Times of India reports.
Ireland: The Information Commissioner Peter Tyndall has said his office is involved in a stand-off with the Central Bank over its obligations under the FOI law, The Irish Times reports.
Canada: A proposal in British Columbia to publish FOI requests as they are filed would stifle journalism and inhibit requests, according to an article by Stanley Tromp in The Province. Tromp is FOI caucus co-ordinator of the Canadian Association of Journalists. Also writing about proposed provincial FOI amendments is Les Leyne, a Times Colonist columnist.
Malaysia: “What M’sians should know about freedom of information,” writes Cynthia Gabriel, executive director, and Simitha Singam, officer, of the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4).
United Kingdom: “Businesses have been accused of ‘abusing’ the council’s dwindling resources by using public information for commercial gain,” according to an article in The Reading Chronicle. About one in four FOI requests submitted to Reading Borough Council came from private companies.
United Kingdom: Joshua Rozenberg in The Guardian addresses a debate over whether the Supreme Court’s decision to order the release of Prince Charles’ letter to government officials was an abuse of judicial discretion.
Canada: “Data from a national audit on how Saskatchewan fares with Freedom of Information (FOI) requests shows that the Ministry of Highways has a habit of making high fee estimates when requests are sent its way,” according to Evan Radford, writing in Planet S.
Anti-Corruption: A very few of the articles on the London anti-corruption conference. A Guardian summary. “No Place to Hide – Summit Ushers in Powerful New Anti-Corruption Measures,” by Martin Tisné, Investment Partner at Omidyar Network. Anti-Corruption Summit concludes but few sign up to beneficial ownership pledge,” according to Emma Rumney in Public Finance International.
India: “It appears that the entire political spectrum may be preparing to muzzle the Right to Information (RTI) with the excuse that it is being misused,” writes Shailesh Gandhi, a former central information commissioner, in The Hindustan Times.
Australia: Kirsten Lawson in The Canberra Times describes a proposal for a new provincial FOI law.
Open Data/United States: The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School announces that it has been awarded a grant by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation to establish and support a national peer network of urban Chief Data Officers (CDOs).
United States: One senator is blocking a FOI bill in South Carolina, writes the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Bill Taylor. Sen. Marge Bright-Matthews objects to the bills cost, according to an article in The Post Courrier.
India: A journalist was arrested for allegedly “fabricating” a response to his RTI request to make the claim that a ministry has a policy not to hire Muslims, police said, according to an article in Free Press Journal.
India: Aruna Roy, civil activist and one of the key campaigners of the RTI movement, criticizes the Rajasthan government after reports that the RTI chapter has been removed from social sciences curriculum and textbooks of state schools, The Hindustan Times reports. Also see article on the controversy in The Indian Express.
Canada: “The Liberal government is floating the idea of a ministerial veto over planned new powers for the information commissioner — a move that would give cabinet the power to block release of documents,” according to The Canadian Press.
South Africa: “The Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which invests R1.8-trillion on behalf of government pension and social security funds, is facing a mounting challenge for greater transparency over its dealings, with a new bid by DA MP David Maynier to gain sight of the Strategic Statement of Intent issued to it by the finance ministry, which he says has never before been made public,” reports Carol Paton in Business Day.
United States: Open government advocates in Wyoming fight proposed to charge fees to inspect electronic documents, along with proposing a charge of $40 an hour that would be allowed for the state to “supervise copying,” reports The Gillette News Record.
Zimbabwe: The Daily News reports that the Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Pansy Tlakula, has urged Zimbabwe to adopt the ACHPR’s Access to Information model law.
OGP: New version of OGP Explorer online with extra data, new info categories and better usability
OGP: An OGP Working Group launches a draft toolkit to help inform and inspire parliamentary openness reform. The document, which is open for public comment and feedback until June 3, shares information on parliamentary openness reform efforts, focusing on both reform commitments that have been made and the institutional mechanisms employed by legislatures to engage with civil society and pursue reform. You can view and comment on the document here.
Canada: “Governments are often fearful of freedom of information laws, but they shouldn’t be,” a commentary by Todd MacKay, the Prairie director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, explaining, “For every government brought down by scandal, there are many others that stay out of harm’s way because these laws keep them within appropriate bounds.”
United States: An amendment proposed to Delaware’s FOIA is critized by Mark Headd, a tech exec who specializes in open government and civic access, writes Lindsay Podraza in Technically Delaware. The bill would exempt “file layouts, data dictionaries and source code.” Headd is quoted as saying, “Data dictionaries are very useful, essential for open data sets, and file layouts, if you’re using an open data set, you need a file layout.”
Burma: Bidhayal Daya, a former journalist currently working on elections, communications outreach and governance issues, writes in Irrawaddy about lessons to be learned from the Indian RTI campaign.
Pakistan:The Centre for Governance and Public Accountability (CGPA) urged the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly to pass amendments proposed to right to information act, according to an article in The Tribune.
United Kingdom: “Freedom of Information: Should It Apply to Private Companies?” An article supporting the proposition in Consumer Lookout
Open Data: The Center for Open Data Enterprise and the Open Data for Development Network publish a report on the Open Data Impact Map.
Canada: The Public Health Agency of Canada redacted documents using only Scotch tape and paper. The reporter who requested the documents was able to see the redacted confidential information simply by peeling back the paper, according to an article in The Star. Officials said it was an error.
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