US Army gets tough on bloggers

dpa German Press Agency Published: Wednesday May 2, 2007

San Francisco- The US Army has cracked down on soldiers
sending emails or posting blogs without first clearing the content
with a superior officer, Wired News reported Wednesday.
The technology news site said the directive was issued April 19
and is the sharpest restriction on troops' online activities since
the start of the Iraq war.

The report said that the new rules could mean the end of military
blogs, because they require that a commander be consulted before
every blog update. Failure to do so could result in a court-martial
or "administrative, disciplinary, contractual, or criminal action,"
Wired quoted the new rules as saying.

"This is the final nail in the coffin for combat blogging," said
retired paratrooper Matthew Burden, editor of The Blog of War
anthology. "No more military bloggers writing about their experiences
in the combat zone. This is the best PR the military has - it's most
honest voice out of the war zone - and it's being silenced."

The guidelines also affect civilians working for the military,
Army contractors and even soldiers' families, the report said.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency

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