[tristanj]

They're trying to spin this as a "good" thing but I believe the reason they're doing this is more selfish: they're trying to stop people from making multiple, slightly different FOIA requests on the same topic and getting back different censored results. On one request, some parts might be censored, but on another that part may be uncensored. By making multiple requests you can open more and more windows on the actual document.

Here is a 2013 article on someone cleverly abusing this tactic [1]. With the new system in place they'll be able to spot and prevent these tactics more easily.

[1] http://motherjones.com/politics/2013/11/foia-ryan-shapiro-fb...