Message moderation

9 views
Skip to first unread message

Daniel Schuman

unread,
Feb 1, 2026, 10:28:01 AMFeb 1
to US Open Government
Hi everyone,

There have been a few messages this past week that have been off-topic for this group. As you know, "the goal of this group is to provide a safe and welcoming arena for government-focused collaboration and news-sharing around open government efforts of the United States government."

I take a broad view of that mission and welcome contributions from government officials, civil society, and the public. Some examples of welcome topics include:
-The Open Government Initiative, Directive, and Agency Action Plans
-The U.S. National Open Government Action Plan for the Open Government Partnership
-The Freedom of Information Act and Federal Advisory Committee  Act
-Open government data disclosures, programs, policies, and projects
-Civic engagement and public participation

For example, it is entirely appropriate to talk about proposed legislation, ongoing administration actions, or concerns relating thereto. Such emails are welcome and encouraged.

However, messages that are off-topic will result in the senders having their messages moderated (i.e., require re-approval). If they are obviously spam, or senders persist in sending off-topic emails, they will lose the ability to send to this group.

Thank you in advance. 

Daniel
-------------------
Daniel Schuman 
Executive Director | American Governance Institute

Alexander Howard

unread,
Feb 26, 2026, 8:36:38 AM (13 days ago) Feb 26
to Daniel Schuman, US Open Government
Hi all — 

I’ve deleted two messages about duct cleaning from the message archive & marked the most recent sender as “spam” because they are unsolicited mail unrelated to open government in the United States. 

Since these kinds of junk email are often used for scams or phishing to steal personal data to be used in fraud, I moderate differently than the off-topic messages Daniel references.

As a reminder, the long-standing goal of this group is to “provide a safe and welcoming arena for government-focused collaboration and news-sharing around open government efforts of the United States government.” 

Specific topics may include: 
    • The Open Government Initiative, Directive, and Agency Action Plans
    • The U.S. National Open Government Action Plan for the Open Government Partnership
    • The Freedom of Information Act and Federal Advisory Committee  Act
    • Open government data disclosures, programs, policies, and projects
    • Civic engagement and public participation
    Thanks to everyone who has continued to do this work in and outside of the federal government since this group was created a decade ago.

    Best,
    Alex


    --
    You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "US Open Government" group.
    To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to us-open-governm...@googlegroups.com.
    To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/us-open-government/CAB-p7NqkvdG%2BbQK7zXPLYO5JtFdv81k8-86wGuLcpeMtcnLDjw%40mail.gmail.com.
    IMG_7094.jpeg
    IMG_7096.jpeg
    IMG_7097.jpeg
    Reply all
    Reply to author
    Forward
    0 new messages