Right to Know Day 2016 #AccessToInfoDay
On the first officially-recognised International Right to Know Day, European civil society groups and professional organisations (including the European Federation of Journalists) working on the right of access to information today raised concerns that a lack of government transparency is damaging democratic processes, thereby facilitating rising mistrust and demagogic populism in Europe. Recent monitoring by civil society organisations has demonstrated that while significant progress has been made – there are now 111 access to information laws globally and governments regularly publish key datasets on spending and services – there remain serious shortcomings with transparency of decision making which is shielding…