Recent news of government officials inadvertently adding a journalist to their Signal chat has made headlines around the world. Utilizing Signal, a commercial messaging app, for highly sensitive government conversations sidesteps the government’s obligations under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and deprives the public from requesting records they are entitled to under the law.
The Freedom of Information Act is a critical tool for the American public to ensure government transparency. Government agencies bear the obligation to provide information to the public freely upon request. Signal enables conversations to disappear and thus avoid being archived or available on government servers. In short, using Signal to discuss war plans is an end run around FOIA.
Conducting government business on Signal creates unacceptable problems. The public has a right to FOIA requests and the government has a responsibility to follow their own rules.
