• Bloomberg, Dow Jones, The New York Times and Financial Times have filed objections against redacting information of non-U.S. customers of the bankrupt exchange FTX’s.
• The media firms argued that there was no legal basis to redact the FTX’s customer names pursuant to foreign laws.
• They further argued that releasing FTX’s customer information would not subject them to scams, identity theft, personal attack, and online victimization.
Media Outlets Object Redaction of Non-US Customer Information
Four traditional media companies — Bloomberg, Dow Jones, The New York Times, and Financial Times — have filed objections against redacting information of non-U.S. customers of the bankrupt exchange FTX’s. In a May 3 court filing, the media houses argued that FTX’s effort to establish that the names of its customers constituted confidential commercial information was based on speculations that rival firms might try to lure them away.
No Legal Basis for Redaction
The media firms argued that there was no legal basis to redact the FTX’s customer names pursuant to foreign laws. According to the media firms, such conjecture should not overcome the public’s presumptive right of access to bankruptcy filings.
FTX Customers Not Subjected To Fraud
The media houses further argued that FTX failed to demonstrate how releasing its customer information would subject them to scams, identity theft, personal attack, and online victimization. According to the filing, crypto owners are like everyone else scammers can target and sealing individual parties‘ names could be used by virtually every individual party in a bankruptcy proceeding anonymously .
Public Presumption Right To Access Bankruptcy Filings
To further bolster their point, the news outlets wrote that the release of this information is in favor of public interest as it allows members of both general and specialized press access bankruptcy proceedings which is protected by First Amendment right as well as common law presumption right .
Conclusion
In conclusion , while protecting individuals from fraud is an important goal , it should not prevent members of both general and specialized press from accessing bankruptcy proceedings which is protected by First Amendment right as well as common law presumption right .