Freedom of Expression: “There is no question that governments worldwide are wielding the tools of censorship,” warns the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, in a new report.
One section is titled “Undermining the right to information.” It says:
National security is also used to justify excluding information in the public interest from disclosure, with many Governments overclassifying vast amounts of information and documents and others providing limited transparency in the process and substance of classification. In the case of Japan, for instance, the Government adopted the Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets, which raised concerns about transparency, third-party oversight, the protection of journalists and their sources, and whistle-blowers. The United States enforces its Espionage Act in ways that ensure that national security whistle-blowers lack the ability to defend themselves on the merits of grounds of public interest.
Transparency Research: Public perceptions in 113 countries about access to information is one factor measured in a new Rule of Law report by the World Justice Project. Sweden top, Egypt at the bottom. See questions. See rankings.
Pakistan: The Coalition on Right to Information says the Cabinet-approved RTI bill is “so ineffective and structurally flawed that it can’t be improved” and urges adoption of the one unanimously passed by the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting, reports The News and The Nation. Another News article says that the Senate will reject the bill. Also, a News editorial.
The Philippines: A Senate committee approves a FOI bill. See detailed Rappler account. FOI legislation has consistently passed in the Senate in recent years, but been stymied in the House.
Croatia: The High Administrative Court rejects the complaint of the Croatian National Bank to annul the Commissioner for Information’s order for the bank to submit information to the Franak Association about irregularities of commercial banks in the implementation of conversion of Swiss franc loans into euros, according to Total Croatia News.
Australia: The federal government has confirmed it does not intend to appoint a Freedom of Information commissioner.
Australia/Commentary: Matt Smith in the Sunday Tasmanian writes about a move to make all government departments publish all Right to Information requests online within 48 hours of the information being provided to those who have sought it.
“The policy has had two effects. It has put a bunch of information into the public domain that would have otherwise not been there. But, it has also worked in the Government’s favour. Unflattering information requested in an RTI is now often dissipated in a press release to all media outlets. This often takes the sting out of the information for the journalist or MP who has sought it.
Indonesia: The Central Information Commission ordered disclosure of an investigative report on the murder of a human rights activist, but the government said it did not have the report.” “The brouhaha over the whereabouts of the Munir report is a reminder of how a culture of secrecy persists in the country even after it enacted the Freedom of Information Law in 2008,” wrote Ina Parlina and Margareth S. Aritonang in The Jakarta Post, continuing, “But as of today, the KIP remains a toothless body, having no legal power to enforce its rulings.
Afghanistan: President Ashraf Ghani issues a new decree on speeding up the access to information process, according to an article on Pajhwok Afghan News.
Malaysia: The implement of the Penang state FOI law is criticized, particularly the requirement for a sworn statement, according to an article in Free Malaysia Today.
Mexico: “Mexico can boast having one of the world’s best right-to-information laws. But that means little in practice, journalists and activists say, because authorities regularly skirt the spirit of the well-regarded law—starting, it is alleged, with the government agency charged with upholding it,” writes Ana Camboy in Quartz.
Zambia: “The Civil Society Coalition on Access to Information law says information minister Chishimba Kambwili should immediately get down to work and take the ATI Bill to Parliament,” according to a Post article.
Sri Lanka: “Some Legal Reflections on the new Right to Information Act,” an article in The Sunday Times by Toby Mendel, director of the Centre for Democracy and Law.
India: Fifty-six RTI activists have lost their lives, according to a Times of India article.
United States: Nick Sinai, a Venture Partner at Insight Venture Partners and Adjunct Faculty at Harvard, sums up a recent panel discussion on FOI at Harvard.
United States: The Justice Department has kept classified at least 74 opinions, memos and letters on national security issues, including interrogation, detention and surveillance, according to a report released by the Brennan Center for Justice a nd summarized by The Washington Post.
Open Rulemaking: “Citizen engagement in rulemaking — evidence on regulatory practices in 185 countries,” a new World Bank report. “This paper presents a new database of indicators measuring the extent to which rulemaking processes are transparent and participatory across 185 countries.”
Open Artificial Intelligence: Artificial intelligence needs transparency so humans can hold it to account, says Virginia Dignum, Associate Professor at the Delft University of Technology.
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