Editors of UK national newspapers are calling on the government to protect the Freedom of Information Act following criticism that the public are being unfairly obstructed when they seek to scrutinise the work of official organisations. In the letter, the editors raise serious concerns about the difficulties that journalists and the public experience when trying to use freedom of information legislation across government to request information from official files. They call for measures to speed up official responses to freedom of information requests by the public and a strengthening of the information commissioner, the body that regulates the act. “This raises serious questions about whether information requests by journalists and researchers are being treated and managed differently,” the editors write. “This is especially important for complex FoI requests where we must balance the need to make information available with our legal duty to protect sensitive information and national security,” they said.

Source: The Guardian February 08, 2021 21:56 UTC