Government’s Cabinet office is running an Orwellian unit to block FOI requests and blacklist journalists. This list includes journalists and researchers from The Guardian, the BBC, openDemocracy, Privacy International and Big Brother Watch and many others.
Silkie Carlo, Director of Big Brother Watch said:
“We’re appalled that such important information rights have been so disrespected by the government. The centralisation of difficult FOIs, the secrecy of this list and the fact that our names have been circulated around Whitehall is seriously chilling. This is a shameful reflection on the government’s attitude towards transparency.”
openDemocracy — UK government running ‘Orwellian’ unit to block release of ‘sensitive’ information
The Times — Freedom of Information Act undermined
The Canary — Government ‘secret Orwellian unit’ takes blacklisting journalists to a new level