Photo courtesy of the FBI
Recently, Truthout revealed the FBI’s practice of “blackballing” files that were requested via a Freedom of Information Act Request. According to Truthout, “blackballing” refers to a practice by FBI’s FOIA analysts in which they find documents responsive to a request, but for reasons unknown, they determine them to be unresponsive and “blackball” the records, issuing a “no records” response to the request.
Now that this practice has been revealed, how can researchers avoid getting records “blackballed’ by the FBI?
A researcher can avoid being “blackballed” by making their FOIA request very specific. This means including all relevant information relating to their request: names, dates, facts, etc. Truthout reported that some requests were “blackballed” because the files did not match the “specific request.”
A researcher should also use the FBI FOIA classification codes to ask for the files they are seeking and be very specific about the types of files they are seeking. Truthout reported that a FOIA request to the FBI regarding “blackballing” returned powerpoint slides that said that files identified as 190 (Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts) and 197 (Civil Litigation) “main files” are “blackballed” unless “specifically asked for” by the requestor when the initial FOIA is submitted.
A researcher should also be aware that FBI “control files”, files that are “used as an administrative means of managing, or ‘controlling’ a certain program or investigate matter,” are likely to be “blackballed” However, Truthout noted that a FOIA analyst must get permission from a supervisor before “control files” can be “blackballed,” so there is still a slight chance you may get the files.
Read more about FBI “Blackballing” on Truthout: http://www.truth-out.org/revealed-fbis-secretive-practice-blackballing-files/1326811421
