Here are this year’s “winners.” While they may not all pay up, at least we can make sure they get the negative publicity they’re owed.

Since the start of the new Trump administration, hundreds of federal data sets and government websites have gone offline without warning, sometimes returning with major changes and sometimes not returning at all. On February. 13, meet the groups fighting to keep the information online.

Have you run into an egregious records denial? Still aching about an agency thwarting the public’s right to know? Just need to vent about the one (FOIA request) that got away? This is your chance to share and commiserate: Submissions are open for nominations to the 2025 Foilies!

In almost every FOIA policy discussion these days, the topic of AI comes up. What we are already seeing should be concerning to those who want broad access to the public’s information.

Last November, Reuters published an extensive report — backed by interviews, internal communications and public documents — on Appin, an Indian cybersecurity training firm. A month later, an Indian court ruled in favor of a plaintiff for a preliminary injunction that claimed the article defamed not just the company in question, but was “derogatory to the entire Indian nation.”

The Data Liberation Project transparency initiative is joining MuckRock, where together with the data experts at Big Local News it will expand how the community of FOIA enthusiasts requests, documents and publishes data.

Admiral Grace Hopper was a pioneering figure in early computing, developing the first compiler and architecting early compiled programming languages. Now, after a FOIA request and technical assistance from the National Archives, the National Security Agency has released her 1982 lecture, “Future Possibilities: Data, Hardware, Software, and People.”

In 2017, Priscilla Villarreal — sharing updates through her popular La Gordiloca Facebook page — first confirmed with a government source and then reported on a series of deaths in and near Laredo, Texas. They were not unusual stories for Villarreal to share — she has gained wide attention for local updates and breaking news on public corruption and thousands tune in to her videos and updates.

Ever had a spreadsheet-turned-PDF you’re stuck untangling? Wish story ideas came right to you? Over the past two years, MuckRock’s DocumentCloud tool has built several ways to automate common journalism and research tasks, taking once-cumbersome processes and breaking them down to just a few clicks.

Founded in 2003, Appin has been described as a cybersecurity company and an educational consulting firm. Appin was also, according to Reuters reporting and extensive marketing materials, a prolific “hacking for hire” service, stealing information from politicians and militaries as well as businesses and even unfaithful spouses.