FOI Blog Roll

FreedomInfo.org List of FOI-Related Blogs

The editors welcome suggestions to expand this list.

To qualify for this list, the blog or website needs to be pretty active and significantly focused on the subject of access to information whether it is called freedom of information (FOI), right to know (RTK), right to information (RTI).

FreedomInfo.org List of FOI-Related Blogs

 

Europe  – Overall 

Wobbing Europe – Sponsored by the Belgian Pascal Decroos Fund.

http://www.wobbing.eu/

Access Info Europe  – The site for NGO Access Info Europe.

http://www.access-info.org/

FOI in the EU – Run by Statewatch, an EU-based NGO 

www.statewatch.org/foi.htm

 

Europe – By Country

United Kingdom

Save Our FOIA – A site begun in 2011 coincident with the government review of the FOI law.

http://savefoi2012.wordpress.com/

Open Secrets  – BBC – written by veteran journalist Martin Rosenbaum.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/opensecrets/

UK Freedom of Information Blog – the site of the Campaign for Freedom of Information – Katherine Gunderson, editor

http://foia.blogspot.com/

The Guardian’s Freedom of Information web page (Guardian Unlimited) – Tracks recent stories featuring information obtained or withheld under freedom of information legislation and offers sample letters to download for people who want to make information requests.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/freedomofinformation

FOIA Man – Written by Paul Gibbons, a former government who worked on FOIA issues, now handling FOIA compliance for a university.

http://foiman.com/

David Higgerson – Journalism, online, random thinking  – Variety of topics, including FOI, covered in this personal blog by the head of multimedia for Trinity Mirror Regionals.

http://davidhiggerson.wordpress.com/

FOI Directory – Matt Burgess, a freelance journalist, keeps up on UK FOI requests and reports on developments in FOI law and legislation.

Homepage

Inforrm’s Blog – Done by the International Forum for Responsible Media, (Inforrm for short) and largely on issues of media responsibility, but also covers FOI matters.

http://inforrm.wordpress.com/

Hawk Talk – The blog of FOI training company Amberhawk Training Ltd., a FOI training company, focuses on data protection and FOI. 

http://amberhawk.typepad.com/

Heather Brooke – British journalist Heather Brooke, author of the book “The Silent State,” focuses on government surveillance, privacy, FOI, etc.

http://heatherbrooke.org/

Panopticon – Ablog about “information law“ maintained by members of 11KBW’s Information Law Practice Group.  

http://www.panopticonblog.com/

HoldtheFrontPage.co.uk – Mostly reprinted reports on the use of the FOIA, part of a larger site owned  by four regional newspaper publishers.

http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/day/foi/foiindex.shtml

Ben Plouviez – A blog about information by Ben Plouviez

http://benplouviez.wordpress.com

FOIA News – U.K. FOI news, edited by DataNews Ltdjournalist Matthew Davis. 

http://www.foinews.co.uk/

Information Law – A website containing articles and training materials by Ibrahim Hasan, a UK solicitor specializing in the area.

http://www.informationlaw.org.uk/

Constitution Unit Blog (FOI and DP) – A blog by a UK-based think tank specializing in constitutional affairs and comparative constitutional studies.

http://constitution-unit.com/category/foi-dp/

Request Initiative: A daily blog by a London-based Community Interest Company that  makes requests for information using transparency legislation on behalf of charities, nongovernmental organizations) and nonprofits acting in the public interest.

http://requestinitiative.org/blog/

UK FOIA Requests – Spy Blog – A spin-off site of Spy Blog, tracking the organization’s FOIA requests on surveillance matters.

http://p10.hostingprod.com/@spyblog.org.uk/blog/foia/

whatdotheyknow.com/blog – Updates from a website for making and tracking FOIA requests.

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/blog

Information Rights and Wrongs – By Jonathan Baines, who works in local government.

http://informationrightsandwrongs.wordpress.com/

Open Knowledge Foundation Blog – Run by the British-based nonprofit , the Open Knowledge Foundation.

http://blog.okfn.org/

Info Law Blog – “Anything that enters Tim Turner’s head about FOI, Data Protection, Confidentiality, Environmental Information, Security and related matters.”

http://2040info.blogspot.com

Infoism – Authored by librarian Ian Clark.

http://infoism.co.uk/blog/

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Blog –a site largely about Scotland.

http://www.foisa.blogspot.com/

Ireland

The Story – Done by blogger Gavin Sheridan, “dedicated to sharing documents, combing and combining data and promoting transparency in public life….”

http://www.thestory.ie/

FOIreland – A weblog about Freedom of Information in Ireland, as well as broader Data Protection and data use issues. Written by “a former FOI officer, interested in transparency and open data. Especially in Ireland.”

http://foireland.blogspot.ie/2013/01/bed-blockers-hospital-food-and-cost-of.html

The Netherlands

Bigwobber

http://www.bigwobber.nl/

Fringe: FOIA and Wob – via e-mail from roger.vleugels@planet.nl  

 Germany

Informationsfreiheitsgesetz – collecting news about freedom of information in Germany. 

http://www.informationsfreiheitsgesetz.net/blog/

Malte-spitz – (German)

http://www.malte-spitz.de/blog/index.html.

Frag den Staat – a site run by the Open Knowledge Foundation – Germany.  The site enables requests from over 830 federal agencies and institutions across Germany. Requests can be tracked on the site, creating a public archive of official documents.

http://fragdenstaat.de/

Bulgaria

Access Point: A blog by the Access to Information Programme (in Bulgarian).

http://blog.aip-bg.org/

Access to Information Programme – the website of the AIP (Bulgarian and English versions).

http://www.aip-bg.org/

Secret Services.Com – Independent specialized site for clean past and transparent future (in Bulgarian).

http://desebg.com/

Russia

The Institute for Information Freedom Development

http://www.svobodainfo.org/en

Also by the Institute for Information Freedom Development, two blogs in Russian

http://svoboda-info.livejournal.com/

and

http://www.taktaktak.ru/blog – By Anastasia Pestova.

Latvia

Info-a.wikidt  —  A site by Linda Austere (In Latvian)

http://info-a.wikidot.com

Switzerland

Öffentlichkeitsgesetz – A blog by journalists for journalists, in German.

http://www.oeffentlichkeitsgesetz.ch

 

Asia

Bangladesh

Right to Information –CRTI – The blog of Campaign for Right to Information.

http://lutfulhaq.wordpress.com/

China

Research on Fredom of Information and Electornic Government in China — Maintained by Ben (Weibing Xiao), associate professor of Political Science and Law at Shanghai University.

http://foichina.blogspot.com/

Diigo newsmarks 03/28/2011 – A component of CHINESEFOI.ORG, a public interest website dedicated to the report and research of the progressive FOI reform in China 

http://chinesefoi.wordpress.com/2011/03/28/diigo-newsmarks-03282011/

FOIA in China – A component of CHINESEFOI.ORG, a public interest website dedicated to the report and research of the progressive FOI reform in China (inactive since March 2010) 

http://www.chinesefoi.org/blog/

China Transparency.org – A Carter Center-backed  site in Chinese.

http://www.chinatransparency.org/

Access to Information in China and Abroad: Chinatransparency.org is “an online resource for Open Government Information in China that seeks to raise awareness about the value of access to information for good governance and the development of society.” Supported by the U.S. Carter Center.

http://chinaelectionsblog.net/ogi/

India

RTIFoundationofIndia.com  – News  about RTI cases, updated daily.

http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/

RTIIndia.org – Regular posts about legal developments.

http://www.rtiindia.org/law

RTI!inda.org – The news section of the RTI!inda.org website.

http://www.rtiindia.org/forum/content/section/4-rti-india-news.html

J&K RTI Movement – An information coalition of activists in Jammu and Kashmir.

http://blog.jkrtimovement.org/

Accountability Initiative –

http://www.accountabilityindia.in/blog

India Right to Information

http://indiarti.blogspot.com/

Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel –

http://mahitiadhikar.blogspot.com/

India Together

http://indiatogether.org/rti/

Jammu –

http://blog.jkrtimovement.org/?p=3861

RTIToday – A site with culled  RTI-related stories

http://rtitoday.com/

RTI for Citizens Right to Information – an anti-RTI blog.

http://rti4citizens.blogspot.com/2011/01/humjanenge-requesting-information-about.html

Pakistan

Journeys to Democracy

http://beenasarwar.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/punjab-government-urged-to-enact-right-to-information-law/

Indonesia

Informasi – The website of the Indonesian FOI Coalition.

http://www.kebebasaninformasi.org/.

 

Africa

Overall

The Africa Freedom of Information Centre

http://www.africafoicentre.org

International School for Transparency – Includes monthly Regional Dialogue newsletter.

http://www.istinfo.net/ 

 

South Africa

Open Democracy Advice Centre – The Open Democracy Advice Centre is a section 21 nonprofit  based in Cape Town.

http://www.opendemocracy.org.za/

South Africa History Archive – Does some articles on national and regional FOI issues.

www.saha.org.za

 

Latin America

Brazil

O Fórum de Direito de Acesso a Informações Públicas 

http://www.informacaopublica.org.br

Observing Brazil – a site written by Greg Michener that frequently covers FOI issues

http://observingbrazil.com

Chile

El Vaso – A site run byFundación Ciudadano Inteligente

http://blogs.ciudadanointeligente.cl/elvaso/  

 Mexico

Mexico Informate – A blog by the group Mexico Informate hosted by El Universal

http://blogs.eluniversal.com.mx/mxicoinf/

 

Oceania

Australia

Open and Shut – Peter Timmins

http://foi-privacy.blogspot.com/

All About Access  – By Rick Snell, senior lecturer in law at the University of Tasmania.,

http://informationandaccess.blogspot.com/

 

North America

Canada

All About Information – By Toronto, Ontario, lawyer Dan Michaluk 

http://danmichaluk.wordpress.com/

Eaves.ca

http://eaves.ca/2011/01/10/canada-ranks-last-in-freedom-of-information/

 

United States

Unredacted – A blog on FOI sponsored by the National Security Archive, Washington, D.C.

http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/

The FOI Advocate – The site of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. 

http://www.nfoic.org/blog

Openthegovernment.org  – The group’s website, but plenty of news.

http://www.openthegovernment.org/

See “news” page:

http://www.openthegovernment.org/press_room/news

Sunlight Foundation – A news-packed blog by the Washington-based nonprofit, see esp. The Day in Transparency. 

http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/

The Art of Access: Strategies for Accessing Public Records By academics David Cuillier and Charles Davis.

http://theartofaccess.com/

The First Amendment Coalition – News feeds are among the offerings on the site of this California-basednonprofit public interest organization dedicated to advancing free speech, more open and accountable government, and public participation in civic affairs. 

http://www.firstamendmentcoalition.org/

The Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press – FOIA news included along with media-related information.

http://www.rcfp.org/index.php

Secrecy News – Sponsored by the Federation of American Scientists.

http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

Local Open Government Blog – A site run by the Foster Pepper law firm.

http://www.localopengovernment.com/

Alltop – a commercial aggregator of postings fro FOI-related blogs and websites.

http://freedom-of-information.alltop.com/

The FOIA blog – written by Washington attorney Scott A Hodes.

scotthodes@infoprivacylaw.com

Electronic Frontier Foundation – Some FOI news included on this site.

http://www.eff.org/

See DeepLinks blog:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks

Project on Government Oversight – Check under “open government“ heading.

http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/

FOI FYI – The blog of the Society of Professional Journalist’s FOI Committee.

http://www.spj.org/foi.asp

Free Government Information A blog on many information topics run by three librarians at University of California San Diego,

http://freegovinfo.info/blog

Open Records – State Sunshine and Open Records, a blog about freedom of information, open records and access to public documents. It is associated with WikiFoia, is sponsored by the Lucy Burns Institute and is written by Leslie Graves and Joshua Meyer.

http://openrecords.wordpress.com/

Sunshine Review – State and local government news.

http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/FOIA_News_Headlines#tab=–no-tab–

Primary Sources – a blog run by staffers of MuckRock, “an open government tool powered by state and federal Freedom of Information laws.”

http://www.muckrock.com/blog/

Collaboration on Government Secrecy – U.S. and international FOI news and other FOI resources in this site from American University.

http://www.wcl.american.edu/lawandgov/cgs/

FOIA Geek – By Erin Rosa, “an investigative journalist in the Western Hemisphere.” (Inactive since June 2010)

http://foiageek.wordpress.com/

Pogowasright – A site primarily concerned privacy issues.

http://www.pogowasright.org/

Suits & Sentences – a blog frequently addressing FOI litigation, by Mike Doyle.

http://blogs.mcclatchydc.com/law/

The FOIA Project – Periodic updates when the federal government grants or withholds records under the FOIA). Updated daily, this “FOIA accountability engine” now includes detailed information on every case that challenges government withholding in federal court. Coverage of decisions on FOIA administrative requests on an agency-by-agency basis. Run by the  Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. Link is to the News section.

News

 

US – State News

NFOIC FOIA Friday – State FOIA and local open government news items selected by the National Freedom of Information Coalition. 

http://www.nfoic.org/blogs/kayyang

Transparency Watch — State and city news, mostly, from the Investigative Reporters and Editors

http://ire.org/blog/transparency-watch/

FOIA Oklahoma  – State-oriented content from an Oklahoma advocacy group.

http://foioklahoma.blogspot.com/

PaFOIC – The site for the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition, with news updates.

http://www.openrecordspa.org/news.html

Record Tracker – a blog about Pennsylvania transparency.

http://www.yorkblog.com/record/

Open-Government Blog – Mainly news from the state of Washington, sponsored by the Allied Law Group and Sunshine Blogger.

http://og-blogdotcom.blogspot.com/

Kentucky  Open Government Blog – sponsored by the Scripps Howard First Amendment Center, the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues and Kentucky Citizens for Open Government.

http://kentuckyopengovernmentblog.blogspot.com/

FOIA Friday Index – Mostly Michigan FOIA news by blogger Edward Vielmetti.

http://annarbor.com/vielmetti/foia-friday-index/

FOIA and Proactive Disclosure – A Michigan-oriented site by Jim Lang, but sometimes broader.

http://michfoia.blogspot.com/

Virginia Coalition for Open Government – Regular “Transparency News” about Virginia

http://www.opengovva.org/

 International

Freedominfo — A one-stop portal on FOI worldwide.

http://www.freedominfo.org/

Right2Info – Open Society Institute site brings together information on the legal frameworks for the right to information as well as case law from dozens of countries, organized and analyzed by topic.

http://www.right2info.org/

FOIANet – Organization of international FOIA activists, based in Madrid.

http://www.foiadvocates.net/

Article 19 – UK-based NGO on freedom of expression an FOI matters.

http://www.article19.org/

Carter Center – Access to information project, U.S.-based group.

www.cartercenter.org/peace/americas/information.html

Centre for Law and Democracy – NGO based in Halifax, Canada, focused on freedom of expression and transparency

www.law-democracy.org

The Access Initiative – International focus with an environmental emphasis. NGO coalition with Secretariat at the World Resources Institute, Washington

www.accessinitiative.org/

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative – Monitors/advocates on FOI issues in Commonwealth countries (not very active in 2010)

http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/ai/rti/rti.htm

Privacy International – Mainly privacy oriented, but some FOI postings. Also see “press and news” section on website for good collection of tweets.

https://www.privacyinternational.org/blog

 Knight Center – Latin American media news, but with some emphasis on FOIA

http://knightcenter.utexas.edu/blog/?q=en/blog

 

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