Holocaust Memorial Day Saltire article: FOI release
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
Information requested
I understand that the article on the Scottish Government's intranet, Saltire, to make Holocaust Memorial Day was this year published without the ability for Scottish Government civil servants to comment on it.
Under FOI legislation, I request: (1) all communications, in whatever form (email, Teams, WhatsApp, etc) about the decision to turn off the commenting function, the reasons for doing so, the decisionmaking process for doing so, and the approval of this decision; and (2) any communications internally following that decision: for instance, have any emails been received complaining about or commenting on this decision?
I trust that the public interest in such a decision speaks for itself.
Response
The Scottish Government’s internal communications team allows commenting on intranet articles in most instances. However, in some rare instances, the internal communications team may switch the comments facility off on certain intranet articles in line with our comments and moderation policy.
On point 1 of your question, a copy of the Holocaust Memorial Day 2024 Saltire article is attached in full at Annex A, followed by the comments and moderation policy in full at Annex B. Relevant email correspondence is attached at Annex C.
On point 2 of your question, Section 17(1) of FOI(S)A applies. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. This is because no complaints or comments were received.
To note, personal information such as the names of civil servants in Bands A to C have been redacted. This exemption is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrews House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
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