US Military Surrenders To Social Media, Changes Access Restrictions

Thanks to a new policy by the Department of Defense, members of the US Military will now have limited access to social media sites. "According to the memorandum, members of military departments and all authorized users of the Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNET) can now use the publicly accessible capabilities of various social networking and user-generated content sites, instant messaging, forums, and e-mail. This includes YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and others. Access to porn, gambling, or hate crime sites will remain restricted, however, and commanders can cut down on social media use if they feel the need to 'preserve operations security.'"

This makes sense

[WebManWalking]

I work at a government site. Sometimes, when I'm researching a JavaScript problem, or CSS problem, or browser bug, or some other problem, I get blocked by the fact that someone's tech blog is on a "social network or personal site". Fortunately, the same blocking software lets me proceed by certifying that the access is work-related. The military should have that same freedom for unclassified work.

US Military Surrenders?

[wisnoskij]

That is a little over dramatic.

Re:No Slashdot?

[TubeSteak]

Nobody is going onto slashdot and discussing operational information.
OTOH, it's really easy to go onto MyTwitBook and casually mention
where you are or where you're going and what you're doing there.

Blocking prOn ?

[dargaud]

I never understood the need to block things like porn for the military. You get a bunch of guys together for months on end in a highly stressful condition. Porn would be one excellent way for them to release some steam, but no, they're not allowed to do that. So what are they supposed to do ? Go out, shoot some guys and rape their GFs ?!? I mean is this all it's really about, some kind of control via stress and basic sexual drives like in most wars of the past ? If it was just for me I'd airdrop a billion netbooks full of porn with free satellite access over the middle east.

Re: US Military Surrenders?

[dkleinsc]

But thankfully that headline was hard to believe, because the US military is the sort that won't surrender even if they've completely lost. Now, if the headline had said that the French military surrendered ...

A positive change

[Anonymous Coward]

As an active duty military systems administrator posting from a ship at sea, I welcome this change.

Being underway for months at a time with a 164kbps satellite connection split amongst fifty computers for over a hundred crew is rough enough on morale. Being able to see pictures of their wives and kids makes all the difference in the world.

Foolish people doing foolish things are always going to be the problem, not the engineering officer whose hooked on Farmville after the workday ends.

So long as it doesn't disrupt their effectiveness at work, I very much support this change.

Re:I don't think people understand

[demonlapin]

Not to mention the opsec problems that a camera with a GPS might pose...