Ten Years of the (FOIA) Foilies. A look back at the games governments played to avoid transparency.

By: Dave Maass, March 11, 2025

Over the years, EFF has teamed up with MuckRock to document and ridicule these FOIA fails and transparency trip-ups.

And through a partnership with AAN Publishers, we have named-and-shamed the culprits in weekly newspapers and on indie news sites across the United States in celebration of Sunshine Week, an annual event raising awareness of the role access to public records plays in a democracy.   

This year, we reflect on the most absurd and frustrating winners from the last 10 years as we prepare for the next decade, which may even be more terrible for government transparency.