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The U.S. Department of Defense has blocked access to some social networking sites on its computers, saying use of the sites could clog the military's networks, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The restrictions, which went into effect Monday, had been considered for some time, said Lt. Col. Randi Steffy, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Strategic Command, which is overseeing the task force that designed the restrictions.
"The consideration here is a bandwidth issue. The .mil domain needs to be preserved for the operational requirements, and it was looked at that many of these sites with the video usage and that sort of thing essentially clog up the systems so they decided to put in restrictions," Steffy said. "Security was a small consideration but it really was a bandwidth/network management issue."
Although Steffy declined to name the sites that were restricted, published reports said they include YouTube, MySpace and 11 other Web sites where soldiers post photos, videos and audio recordings to share with family and friends.
However, soldiers will still be able to access these sites from nonmilitary computers, such as those found in Internet cafes.
Earlier this month, the Army issued a regulation barring soldiers from blogging, taking part in online discussion groups or sending personal e-mails unless they clear the content beforehand with a superior officer, according to a document obtained by Wired Magazine.
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Comments (7)
Re: U.S. military bans access to social networking sitesBy Anonymous on May 16, 2007, 3:48 pmThis is ridiculous---we expect our military members to put their lives on the line and on hold by denying them reasonable means to keep in touch with loved ones....
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It has to do with anti-war messages in reality - that's allBy True Colors on May 17, 2007, 8:02 amOne of the progressive, anti-war movements is about to have several retired generals and soldiers who served in Iraq post videos on YouTube/MySpace in opposition...
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Closing Access to Social Sites is a Legitimate MoveBy Rick on May 17, 2007, 9:33 amAs had been alluded to in the recent past in various media outlets, potentially damaging information was released, whether intentionally or inadvertently, by servicemembers...
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Rick, I'd completely agreeBy Anonymous on May 17, 2007, 1:26 pmRick, I'd completely agree with you and this was actually my first thought too. However, the military officials quoted specifically stated that the decision was...
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All about "Anti-war messages"By Kyle on May 18, 2007, 1:20 pmI hadn't heard anything regarding the videos from retired generals and soldiers being uploaded onto the newly-banned websites! That does make sense that the DoD...
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Misdirection is often a valid tacticBy Rick on May 18, 2007, 4:40 pmWhen dealing with any sort of hostile advarsary, whether in the military realm or in the world of business, seldom is all of the information presented, and seldom...
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