On Nov. 18, Elon Law professor David Levine presented, "The Social Layer of Freedom of Information Law" at the 2011 symposium of the North Carolina Law Review.
The symposium’s focus was on social networks and the law. Levine’s presentation abstract follows:
“Social media allows for an unprecedented amount of informal but structured dissemination and analysis of information. However, US freedom of information law has failed to harness the power of these networks in a way that amplifies public knowledge of government information. For example, the groundbreaking Legislative Branch Appropriations Act of 2010 (“LBAA”) requires that Congress release Congressional expenditure reports in electronic format. For the first time, there is the possibility of the release of digital structured data, which allows for the manipulation and search of information based upon set criteria, by and about Congress. But the LBAA fails to require the release of data in an optimal format. Indeed the Senate recently announced that in November 2011 it will release the first set of information as a PDF, a formatted document. The LBAA appears to allow the Senate to use this difficult-to-manipulate format, as PDFs meet the minimal statutory criteria of being ‘searchable’ and ‘itemized.’ Thus, while a major step forward in government transparency, the LBAA does not go far enough to force the release of truly useful structured data from the government and allow meaningful exploitation of social media websites that thrive on simple and effective access to information.
“Similarly, the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), the major US sunshine law, suffers from a related, but worse, statutory deficiency. FOIA requires that an agency provide a ‘record’ in ‘any form or format requested by the person if the record is readily reproducible by that agency in that form or format.’ Thus, FOIA, like the LBAA, allows agencies to produce information in less-than-optimal formats, without even the requirement that the data be searchable or itemized.
“Social media is a prism through which this problem, and a solution to it, can be addressed. By analogy to network layers theory, there are several core layers of information provided by freedom of information laws (i.e., when/where is something happening, who is involved in the discussion, what is being discussed, how/why is a certain conclusion reached). Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, as well as newer social ideation sites like Ahhha and Socrata, can be viewed as part of an additional and related ‘social layer’ of government information. In this layer, data can be disseminated, manipulated and analyzed in structured ways to networks of interested persons, allowing for the creation of additional information beyond the core layers, thereby increasing our understanding of government operations.
“I argue that governments therefore can and should provide information in social media formats and forums, which will vary depending on the layer of the request and responsive information, that best meet the public’s analytical needs. For example, a request asking whether a meeting has taken place could receive a one sentence Twitter-style post in response, whereas a request seeking data that was discussed at that meeting might require use of a newer social ideation tool. Thus, the LBAA, FOIA and other related federal and state laws must be amended to allow for the public’s development and exploitation of the social layer of government information.”
Click here for more information on Elon Law professor David Levine.