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.
Soldiers serving overseas will lose some of their online links to friends and loved ones back home under a Department of Defense policy that a high-ranking Army official said would take effect Monday.
The Defense Department will begin blocking access "worldwide" to YouTube, MySpace and 11 other popular Web sites on its computers and networks, according to a memo sent Friday by Gen. B.B. Bell, the U.S. Forces Korea commander.
The policy is being implemented to protect information and reduce drag on the department's networks, according to 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.
