Freedom of Information requests relating to Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion protests were among those identified as “high-risk” by a “shocking” Metropolitan Police system.
The police force has been labelling FOI requests about sensitive issues, as well as those from journalists and MPs, as “high profile” – despite transparency rules that say FOIs should be “applicant-blind”.
Last year, more than 1,200 FOI requests – almost a third of all requests the Met received – were flagged as “high profile” and sent for sign-off by the organisation’s press office before being published.
