DoD Monitoring Blogs

[tadpole256]

It turns out that for months the DoD has been monitoring soldiers blogs, and even shutting some down. A few soldiers have simply been scared into compliance. I understand the need for OPSEC, but this seems extreme & scary to me.

I have a couple of posts about it on my warblog (link below). I for one do not intend to be silenced. I think the public is entitled to stories that are not impacted by a news organizations political agenda. What I find most shocking, is that given the fact that the 'War on Terror' is so unpopular these days, you'd think the Pentagon would want more military bloggers. It seems to me that military bloggers are more likely to show things in a more positive tone.

Unless of course, they are telling the truth, and the truth itself is not positive...

[tokenuser]

I understand where you are coming from. Unfortunately, I can also see where DoD are coming from - they need to maintain control over information about troop movements and locations. With traditional journalists, the military has some influence/control (unless you are Fox), but bloggers aren't held to the same rules and can say just about anything.

The bloggers who are careful will be fine - but the ones who you wouldn't trust to sit in a bar alone are the ones you needs to watch out for.

[klitzy]

Wait is it bad I don't know what DoD is? Day of Defeat?

Im guessing its department of defense....

[tokenuser]

Wait is it bad I don't know what DoD is? Day of Defeat?

Im guessing its department of defense....Yes. Largest single employer in the US. If you don't know who they are, and what they do for you, you really should - its more than just "fighting the war on terror".

[masherscf]

I understand where you are coming from. Unfortunately, I can also see where DoD are coming from - they need to maintain control over information about troop movements and locations.

Darn T/U, you took the words out of my mouth.

[tokenuser]

Darn T/U, you took the words out of my mouth.:) ... you need to get your hand off your new toy longer, and focus :p

"Loose lips sink ships" - it was true in WWII, and even more so now with the internet and all these people running around playing amature journalists, without any consideration of the consequences of their actions. OK, not quite true - a soldier would want to cover their asses, but often don't think through the consequences of what they write.

Not everyone, and certainly not tadpole are that stupid - but it only take 1 in 100 to say the wrong thing, or publish the wrong photo, and big shit can happen ... just think how much faster the shitstorm over Abu Ghraib would have happened if Lyndie England and her colleagues were smart enough to know how to publish a blog??