Access to Information

Open, safe, and equitable access to information, its circulation and integrity, both online and offline

1976 articles
Right to Know! Right Now Coalition

FOI bill well positioned for passage by Philippines Congress

While the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill is well positioned for passage, Congress will be working within a very tight timetable. The Right to Know. Right Now! Coalition has set up an online Congress Action on FOI tracker to monitor developments in the coming days, weeks, and months.

In this 22 April 2014 file photo, a protester takes part in a rally against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Tokyo, AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, File

UN experts: Secretive trade agreements threaten human rights

Experts at the UN warn of both the substance of agreements like the TPP and the secretive, corporate-dominated process.

Link to: Burkina Faso bans live political broadcasts for three months

Burkina Faso bans live political broadcasts for three months

Burkina Faso’s Higher Council for Communication’s communiqué said public health programmes and programmes of a recreational, sentimental or cultural nature were exempted from the ban “as long as they stayed within their subject.”

On 2 April 2014, a protester takes part in a rally near the Indonesian embassy in London, highlighting the detention of 76 political prisoners in Indonesia's West Papua province, AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis

Open access for foreign journalists in Papua? Cautious welcome for Indonesian president’s promise

AJI welcomes President Joko Widodo’s statement that he would open wide the gates for foreign journalists to carry out their journalistic duties in Papua. AJI will closely monitor the implementation of this promise.

An 8 August 2014 rally in Sydney, Australia against the Nauru transfer of 157 Tamil asylum seekers, Demotix/Richard Milnes

Criticism about human rights abuses in Nauru refugee camps leads to Facebook ban

Nauru’s Facebook ban follows government censorship of state media and a new $8,000 fee (approximately USD $6,340) for foreign media to enter the country, according to opposition critics.

Link to: Threats facing journalists in northern Kenya

Threats facing journalists in northern Kenya

Kenyan journalists are increasingly being forced to make an impossible choice in their quest to report public interest stories, as they face attacks and threats from both militant groups and government officials.

Andrei Bastunets, chairperson of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, Belarusian Association of Journalists

Q&A: What it’s like to be a journalist in Belarus

Andrei Bastunets, chairperson of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, explains why recent amendments to the Mass Media Law are making it almost impossible for journalists to do their work.

London demonstrators lead global protest against Indonesian media blackout in West Papua, Tapol/Facebook

Indonesia: Global day of action calls for free and open access to Papua

NGOs, parliamentarians and solidarity groups all around the world are telling Indonesia that human rights abuses in Papua can no longer be ignored. Papuan voices must be heard. In this age of information, it’s astounding that there are blackspot regions like West Papua.

Riot police detain a resident participating in street protests in Bujumbura, 26 April 2015, REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

Burundian authorities shut down media outlets as protests intensify

Journalists are being harassed and radio stations prevented from broadcasting in an attempt to contain protests. The demonstrations have occured in the wake of a recent announcement that President Pierre Nkurunziza will run for a third term.

Fraser Lewry/Flickr/Creative Commons License http://bit.ly/1jLaq0w

War on satellite dishes interferes with access to information

Residents are being forced to dismantle privately owned satellite dishes, further isolating people in Turkmenistan.

Anti-Beijing protesters hold pictures of jailed veteran Chinese journalist Gao Yu during a rally outside Chinese central government's liaison office in Hong Kong Friday, April 17, 2015 as they demand press freedom and the release of Gao, AP Photo/Kin Cheung

RWB reveals Chinese state secrets to protest journalist’s prison sentence

In response to journalist Gao Yu’s seven-year jail sentence for “disclosing state secrets,” RWB is releasing internal Chinese Communist Party documents as a form of protest and to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of the government’s attempts to control news and information.

Screen shot from Hacking Team commercial video for Remote Control System Galileo, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1yb-wWwAEQ

Investigation reveals company secretly sold spyware to U.S. DEA and military

Hacking Team’s spyware can remotely activate microphones and webcams as well as modify and extract data, and has been connected to the targeting of journalists and activists.

© 2013 Courtesy of Ivan Simochkin/Deti 404/Wikimedia Commons

Online support group for LGBT children faces court hearing in Russia

A court in Saint Petersburg will hear a case against an online group for allegedly violating Russia’s anti-LGBT “propaganda law.” Deti 404, or Children 404, is an online support group for LGBT children to discuss violence and harassment they face at school and home and receive help.

Link to: Press freedom deteriorates in Hong Kong

Press freedom deteriorates in Hong Kong

According to a recent HKJA survey, both the public and journalists believe that press freedom deteriorated in 2014. To counter this, there is a clear need for freedom of information legislation to ensure the right to access information held by the government and public bodies.

Papuan people shout slogans during a rally in Jakarta, 1 December 2014, REUTERS/Pius Erlangga

Media restrictions in Papua underscore Indonesia’s wider problems

With more than 50 years of restricted media access, one of the least covered armed conflicts in the world is the long-simmering struggle between Indonesia’s military and the secessionist Free Papua Movement.

Canada's Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault during a news conference upon the release of her report in Ottawa March 31, 2015, REUTERS/Chris Wattie

Canada needs serious access to information reform

It is long past time for Canada’s Access to Information Act to be reviewed and updated. Once a world leader in ATI, the country now lags far behind.