The National Park Service (NPS) removed 92 documents describing park climate action plans from their website. The NPS claimed that the removals are temporary while reports are updated to improve usability compliance, but no advance notice, public Web archive, or explanation why the documents could not remain on the site until material is prepared was provided.
Continue readingThe Honest Ads Act would be a “valuable step in normalizing the status of political ads online”
The Honest Ads Act is the first significant legislative effort to address the new challenges of network propaganda, writes Harvard Law School professor Yochai Benkler, who sits on Sunlight's advisory board.
Continue readingTweets by @realDonaldTrump are official statements of the @POTUS, says Justice Department
Listening and responding to members of the public that is a minimum expectation for public servants in any democratic state, whether those voices are raised in protest, petition, email, send letters or reply on social media. While there are practical challenges to making sense of millions of emails, tweets, call or letters, blocks that violate the First Amendment rights of the public are not the solution to filter failure.
Continue readingPlease tell the FEC why you support more sunshine in online political ads
If you agree that it's time for the Federal Elections Commission to extend the definition of electioneering to online communications and require disclaimers and disclosures for paid political advertising on Internet platforms, please tell them!
Continue readingGlobal headwinds for political transparency online
We shouldn’t be too sanguine though, because the common sense measures that comprise the Honest Ads Act are an important bulwark for a campaign finance regulatory system that has been eroded and attacked for decades. Here are the global headwinds we’re all facing in the fight for transparent, accountable election spending.
Continue readingChanges to USGS website highlight the importance of search for public access
If the public cannot find a resource in a search result list anymore, can that public information still be said to be accessible? Yes, and no.
Continue readingCongress should hold the Facebook Election Commission accountable to its transparency commitments
In the wake of foreign interference on national elections using its platform, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg committed to more political ad transparency in video and text shared with billions of users. The public interest, however, requires Congress and the FEC to hold the world's largest social network accountable.
Continue readingOPEN Government Data Act poised to pass Congress as part of NDAA
On Monday, the United States Senate quietly passed the OPEN Government Data Act as part of the 2018 National Defense... View Article
Continue readingTrump administration commits to participating in Open Government Partnership
The big idea behind the Open Government Partnership’s founding in 2011 was that it would provide a platform for the public to hold a national government accountable for meeting commitments that have been created in open consultation between the governed and a government of the people. When countries elect leaders like President Donald J. Trump who don’t value basic democratic norms for accountability, transparency and ethics, it poses a stern test: can a voluntary mechanism between community of democracies be used to protect and defend it?
Continue readingPutting sunshine on President Trump’s conflicts of interest
In November 2016, Sunlight began tracking President Donald J. Trump’s conflicts of interest. In May 2017, we relaunched our list... View Article
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