Internet Press Freedom Conference

Remarks by Seymour Topping
San Paolo Professor Emeritus of International Journalism

You have endorsed the Statement of Vienna and responded to a call for action of the World Press Freedom Committee. Let me respond by asking you on behalf of the American Society of Newspapers Editors to join in a broad coalition dedicated to safeguarding freedom of information.

The first principle enunciated in the Vienna Statement stipulates: News media in cyberspace and via international satellite broadcasts should be afforded the same freedom of expression rights as traditional news media. Unfortunately, that stipulation has taken on an unintended ambivalence simply because certain rights of traditional news media relating to access of information have in this country been impaired by secrecy measures adopted by the Bush Administration. 

As Professor Alan Brinkley, provost and historian at Columbia University, noted recently the administration has taken pervasive secrecy up to a new level. We have witnessed drastic curtailment of the Freedom of Information Act. Reversing previous disclosure policies, Attorney General Ashcroft has told federal agencies to reject requests for public records if there is any legal basis for doing so and promised them Justice Department support. The power to stamp documents secret has been was extended to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Health and Human Services. Under the Homeland Security Act, it is now a crime to disclose critical infrastructure information supplied to the government by a company without the consent of that company. This applies to companies in such sectors as transportation, telecommunication, pharmaceuticals and financial services. A residential community, for example, can be denied information relating to chemical hazards if the relative data has been provided in confidence to the government.

Senator Leahy of Vermont has characterized these policies as the most severe weakening of the Freedom of Information Act in its 36-year history. Taking a lead from the federal government, officials on state and local levels have also become more resistant to press requests for access to public records.

The government holds that these exemptions to the FOI Act are essential to safeguarding information, which terrorists could use for sabotage. The need for extraordinary security measures these days is undeniable. However, the question arises as to whether the government in an atmosphere of fear is overreaching: whether some of the measures are more political than precautionary. Under the FOI statute scholars, journalists and others have been able to scrutinize government performance through examination of millions of pages of public records. The Internet has been a key tool for dissemination of information extracted from these records. The denial of access tends to immunize officials from investigation and criticism of faulty policies.

Since 9/11, the President has been empowered to deny access to any public records, which he deems sensitive without being required to elaborate on the criteria for such action. By executive order he has extended the power to classify information to Vice President Cheney. All correspondence from foreign governments is now subject to classification. The CIA has been given enhanced authority to bar documents from declassification. Access to presidential papers of past administrations has been narrowed.

The administration's penchant for secrecy may very well be a harbinger of support for restrictions on the Internet here and internationally at the World Summit on the Information Society.

So what is to be done?

There is an urgent need for all who are dedicated to an open society to join in a broad coalition to rally public support, lobby legislators, and litigate in the courts in defense of the democratic rights of access and communication. The United States has been a model for emerging nations. To falter in the struggle for freedom of information would be disservice to the world community.

The American Society of Newspaper Editors convened an FOI Summit in Washington on June Fifth to organize such a broad coalition. The participants represented media organizations, historians, academics, environmentalists and others who are seeking amendment of recent restrictive legislation and executive orders. An action plan is now being drafted by a steering committee to pool and expand existing efforts and I urge supporters of the World Press Freedom Committee to become active partners in that coalition. Adherence to the Statement of Vienna binds us all together in a common purpose.