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Since the founding of the United States, the public's right to know the affairs of their government has been foundational democracy. James Madison wrote during the United States Constitutional Convention, "The right of freely examining public characters and measures and free communication, is the only effective guardian of every other right."
The Right to Information (RTI) is an act of the Parliament of India & Delhi Legislative Assembly which sets out the rules and procedures regarding citizens' right to access information. It replaced the former Freedom of Information Act, 2000.
The Global Right to Information Rating is a programme providing advocates, legislators, reformers with tools to assess the strength of a legal framework. [111] In measuring the strength and legal framework of each country's freedom of information law using the Right to Information Rating, one notable trend appears. [112]
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA / ˈ f ɔɪ j ə / FOY-yə), 5 U.S.C. § 552, is the United States federal freedom of information law that requires the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased or uncirculated information and documents controlled by the U.S. government upon request. The act defines agency records subject to ...
Freedom of information laws allow access by the general public to data held by national governments and, where applicable, by state and local governments. The emergence of freedom of information legislation was a response to increasing dissatisfaction with the secrecy surrounding government policy development and decision making. [1]
Intellectual freedom encompasses many areas including issues of academic freedom, Internet filtering, and censorship. [4] Because proponents of intellectual freedom value an individual's right to choose informational concepts and media to formulate thought and opinion without repercussion, restrictions to access and barriers to privacy of information constitute intellectual freedom issues.
It is "one of the most influential essays in the history of American law" [2] and is widely regarded as the first publication in the United States to advocate a right to privacy, [3] articulating that right primarily as a "right to be let alone". [4]
The right to information is not a new on the African continent. It was first adopted by Sweden in 1766 and Finland in 1951. Over the past two decades many African countries have also adopted the laws, indicating acknowledgement that transparency is an essential condition of democracy. Currently 24% of the African countries have adopted the law.