No Photo and Video Sharing for the Troops

Posted on May 14, 2007

The Department of Defense (Dod) is going to block soldier's access to photo and video sharing websites like Flickr and YouTube according to an Associated Press article. The announcement was made in a memo sent by U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. B.B. Bell.

"This recreational traffic impacts our official DoD network and bandwidth ability, while posing a significant operational security challenge," the memo said.
The armed services have long barred members of the military from sharing information that could jeopardize their missions or safety, whether electronically or by other means.
The new policy is different because it creates a blanket ban on several sites used by military personnel to exchange messages, pictures, video and audio with family and friends.

The move follows the recent news that soldiers will not be allowed to post content, such as a blog post or a tweet, without first getting the permission of a commander. As far as we know the troops are still allowed to write letters.

Update: Stars and Stripes has an article about the troops being barred from photo and video sharing sites.