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U.S. Response II: White House Orders Internet Review The Bush administration yesterday ordered all U.S. federal agencies to review their Web sites for sensitive information that could help terrorists build or use weapons of mass destruction, according to the Washington Times (see GSN, Jan. 14). In a memo to federal agencies yesterday, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card ordered an “immediate re-examination” of all public documents. The agencies must report results to the Homeland Security Office within 90 days. What Information Will Become Unavailable to the Public “Government information, regardless of its age, that could reasonably be expected to assist in the development or use of weapons of mass destruction, including information about the current locations of stockpiles of nuclear materials that could be exploited for use in such weapons, should not be disclosed inappropriately,” Card wrote. Two White House officials provided hypothetical examples of the types of information that might be removed from public sources, such as documents that provide dual-use information on nuclear materials, such as spent fuel rods from nuclear power plants, and information on heating and air conditioning systems that terrorists could use to spread biological agents through public buildings. “Information that points to specific vulnerabilities at nuclear power plant reactors or subway stations, for instance, would also be removed,” one official said. “There was information that was on different Web sites that was actually being made available for sale that really shouldn't have been out there,” the official said. “For instance, there was a classified report that was generated in the ‘50s and declassified in the ‘70s that talked about how to build a biotoxin factory, and of course that was removed,” the source added (see GSN, Jan 14). Scientists and Watchdog Groups Express Concern The White House memo told agencies to consider “the benefits that result from the open and efficient exchange of scientific, technical and like information” when reviewing the public information, but some scientists and organizations expressed concern that the agencies would abuse the authority to remove information from the public realm at the expense of science and democracy. “A concern about terrorism can be used as a pretext for withdrawing all kinds of information that has little or no national security sensitivity,” said Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists. “And that is something we see happening all over the place.” A particular point of concern is the White House decision to include in the review “sensitive but unclassified” documents. “It’s potentially a catchall, and it could be an invitation to abuse,” said Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, which advocates public access to government information. “Because it is not defined, it could be used to justify the withholding of almost anything,” he said. “If it is left to the discretion of the individual agencies, they will abuse that discretion.” Bass expressed concern about the impact on U.S. democracy. “We are moving very rapidly to a shift from basic democratic principles of right to know to one that is based on a need to know. That will have major, major reverberations for our democratic processes,” Bass said. “It will mean that the judgment is placed on the government to determine whether you do have a need to know.” The government has already removed more than 6,000 documents from Web sites, Aftergood said (Bill Sammon, Washington Times, March 21).
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