DoD Draft Policy on Social Networking

Via Noah Shachtman at Danger Room – Draft Policy Would OK Troops’ Tweets.

The Defense Department may allow troops and military employees to freely access social networks – if a draft policy circulating around the Pentagon gets approved, that is.

For years, the armed services have put in place a series of confusing, overlapping policies for using sites like Twitter and Facebook. But a draft memo, obtained by Nextgov, allows members of the military to use Defense Department networks to get on the social media sites – as well as on “e-mail, instant messaging and discussion forums.” …

More at Danger Room.

Defense to Allow Troops, Family Members to Use Social Network Sites – Bob Brewin, NextGov.

The Defense Department, which had seen some services ban the use of social networking sites, will allow troops and their families to use the popular online communication tools such as Facebook and Twitter on its unclassified networks, according to a draft memo obtained by Nextgov.

The memo, written by Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn III and due out in days, solidly backs the use of social network sites, which Lynn calls “Internet capabilities,” for both official and unofficial purposes and envisions these tools as providing an information advantage for Defense.

The new policy “addresses important changes in the way the Department of Defense communicates and shares information on the Internet,” Lynn wrote. “This policy recognizes that emerging Internet-based capabilities offer both opportunities and risks that need to be balanced in ways that provide an information advantage for our people and mission partners.” …

More at NextGov.

I’m following this closely as we have a stake in this fight — the Navy/Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) currently blocks our Small Wars Council discussion board. I am told our Blog, Journal and other pages are still accessible. It’s also quite ironic — the Army is taking full advantage (and here) of our reach and feedback capabilities while the Marine Corps sees fit to block what many call the most professional and useful social networking site concerning Irregular Warfare / Small Wars issues on the Internet. Go figure…