Soldiers ordered not to use Facebook

by Ben Bold, Brand Republic 16-Feb-09, 11:30

LONDON - Army chiefs have banned soldiers from using social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, blogging and joining online forums over fears that serving personnel might inadvertently breach security, according to a report.

According to The Sun, posting information on the internet through social networking, blogging, online discussion forums, as well as playing online games, has been dubbed "public disclosure of information".

The ban is the result of an order that was leaked to the newspaper, entitled "Contact With The Media and Communicating in Public", which was issued on February 4.

The move, said the report, has been met with anger by troops, who said they use sites such as Facebook to stay in touch with family and friends at home.

An NCO quoted in the paper said: "The fun police have taken over. I can't talk to my wife and kids or even play Call of Duty 5. Do they really think we're going to give away secrets?"
Another solider described the order as "the most offensive thing I've ever heard".

He added: "We're prepared to die for the country and are treated like children. I am going to ignore it. A lot of the lads are going to do the same."

However, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said that the guidelines were not an outright ban, pouring cold water on The Sun's claims.

He said: "Of course soldiers are allowed to go on Facebook and contribute to blogs.

"But we need to ensure sensitive information is not inadvertently placed in the public domain. A routine instruction has merely been refreshed and reissued."

Comments

Harry Worsnop - 16/02/2009

Your headline and quote from the MOD seem to be contradictory - make your mind up which you're going with! "Soldiers ordered not to use Facebook" "Of course soldiers are allowed to go on Facebook"

John Franks - 16/02/2009

Most companies, and in this case the military, enjoy "security" insofar as they haven't been targeted, or had an employee make a human error with catastrophic exposure. Price Waterhouse Cooper and Carnegie-Mellon's CyLab have recent surveys that show the senior executive class to be, basically, clueless regarding IT risk and its tie to overall enterprise \(business) risk. Data breaches and thefts are due to a lagging business culture – absent new eCulture, breaches will, and continue to, increase. As CIO, I'm constantly seeking things that work, in hopes that good ideas make their way back to me - check your local library: A book that is required reading is "I.T. WARS: Managing the Business-Technology Weave in the New Millennium." It also helps outside agencies understand your values and practices. The author, David Scott, has an interview that is a great exposure: www.businessforum.com/DScott_02.html - The book came to us as a tip from an intern who attended a course at University of Wisconsin, where the book is an MBA text. It has helped us to understand that, while various systems of security are important, no system can overcome laxity, ignorance, or deliberate intent to harm. Necessary is a sustained culture and awareness; an efficient prism through which every activity is viewed from a security perspective prior to action. In the realm of risk, unmanaged possibilities become probabilities – read the book BEFORE you suffer a bad outcome – or propagate one.

David Bowie - 17/02/2009

I would literally die if i could not go on Call of Duty 5. Especially is if i was stuck in a pointless war

werwr wrwerwewr - 16/04/2009

I think people should think twice before using platforms like Facebook in order to avoid any disappointment, especially if they hold sensitive positions.