FOIA Advisor

FOIA News: 1st Circuit hears Facebook arguments

FOIA News (2015-2023)Allan BlutsteinComment

Facebook Tells 1st Circ. To Reverse FTC Doc Release Order

Law360, Apr. 12, 2021

Facebook has urged the First Circuit to reverse an order requiring the Federal Trade Commission to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request for documents related to a $5 billion settlement with Facebook, saying dissenting comments from two FTC commissioners are not "official" disclosures triggering the official-acknowledgment doctrine. The doctrine is a three-prong test courts use to determine if a government agency or official waived a FOIA exemption by publicly discussing previously undisclosed information.

Read more here (accessible with free trial).

District court opinion and docket here.