Freedom of Information Act

Description (EN)

Stub generated by entity dedup. Will be enriched in Phase 6.

Descrição (PT-BR)

Stub gerado pela deduplicação de entidades. Será enriquecido na Fase 6.

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Enrichment (EN)

Disambiguation: Legal instrument. NOT to be confused with other Freedom of Information laws (e.g., UK Freedom of Information Act 2000 or EU FOIA), though similar in principle.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is the federal law signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 4, 1966, and effective July 4, 1967, that mandates U.S. government agencies disclose previously unreleased information upon public request. Codified at 5 U.S.C. § 552, FOIA requires agencies to respond within 20 business days and permits disclosure only when exemptions—such as national defense, personal privacy, and law enforcement—do not apply. The law has been central to UAP/UFO disclosure efforts, enabling researchers and journalists to obtain previously classified government documents on anomalous phenomena through FOIA reading rooms maintained by the FBI, CIA, NSA, and other agencies. FOIA underwent significant expansion via 1974 Privacy Act amendments and 1996 Electronic FOIA amendments, with the most transformative strengthening occurring after Watergate when Congress overrode President Ford's veto, establishing modern judicial review of executive secrecy claims.

Enriquecimento (PT-BR)

Desambiguação: Legal instrument. NOT to be confused with other Freedom of Information laws (e.g., UK Freedom of Information Act 2000 or EU FOIA), though similar in principle.

A Lei de Acesso à Informação (Freedom of Information Act, FOIA) é a lei federal assinada pelo Presidente Lyndon B. Johnson em 4 de julho de 1966, com vigência a partir de 4 de julho de 1967, que obriga agências do governo dos EUA a divulgar informações previamente não divulgadas mediante solicitação pública. Codificada em 5 U.S.C. § 552, a FOIA exige que agências respondam em 20 dias úteis e permite divulgação apenas quando isenções—como defesa nacional, privacidade pessoal e investigações de aplicação da lei—não se aplicam. A lei foi central para esforços de divulgação de UAP/UFO, permitindo que pesquisadores e jornalistas obtivessem documentos governamentais previamente classificados sobre fenômenos anômalos através de salas de leitura FOIA mantidas pelo FBI, CIA, NSA e outras agências. A FOIA sofreu expansão significativa através das emendas da Lei de Privacidade de 1974 e das emendas da FOIA Eletrônica de 1996, com o fortalecimento mais transformador ocorrendo após Watergate, quando o Congresso rejeitou o veto do Presidente Ford.

External Sources

• Freedom of Information Act (United States) · Wikipedia · reliability: high — Enacted July 4, 1966, effective July 4, 1967; Codified at 5 U.S.C. § 552; Designed to enable public scrutiny of government operations; Contains nine exemptions for sensitive information; Strengthened after Watergate scandal (1974) when Congress overrode Ford veto
• About the Freedom of Information Act · FOIA.gov (U.S. Government) · reliability: high — Described as law that 'keeps citizens in the know about their government'; Has given public right to request federal agency records since 1967; Operates under 'presumption of openness' principle; Department of Justice Office of Information Policy provides compliance guidance; Agencies must respond to requests within 20 business days
• Records Related to Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs) at the National Archives · National Archives · reliability: high — FOIA has been instrumental in accessing government UAP/UFO records; Multiple federal agencies maintain FOIA reading rooms with declassified UAP documents; 2024 NDAA mandated creation of Record Group 615 for UAP records at National Archives

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