British Military Gags Blogs

Before they blog, upload a video to YouTube, or even play a game of World of Warcraft, members of the British military first have to get approval from superior officers, if there's any hint that defense matters might come up. That's according to a new set of rules issued by the U.K. Ministry of Defence, which state:

Members of the Armed Forces and MOD Civil Servants must seek prior permission from [MoD media authorities] if they wish to communicate about defence via books, articles or academic papers; self-publish via a blog, podcast or other shared text, audio or video; take part in external questionnaires, polls, surveys or research projects, speak at conferences, private engagements or other events where the public or media may be present; or contribute to any online community or share information such as a bulletin board, wiki, online social network, or multi-player game...

[This] covers all public speaking, writing or other communications, including via the internet and other sharing technologies, on issues arising from an individual's official business or experience, whether on-duty, off-duty or in spare time.

"This is a gag order pure and simple," says one commenter on an unofficial U.K. soldiers' forum.

Western militaries have been wrestling lately with what to do about troops' unofficial online activities; often, the answer has been to clamp down, hard. Last December, the Australian Defence Force banned blogs altogether. In April, the U.S. Army issued stringent new rules, ordering troops to "consult with their immediate supervisor... prior to publishing or posting information in a public forum... This includes, but is not limited to letters, resumes, articles for publication, electronic mail (e-mail), Web site postings, [and] web log (blog)
postings." Days later, the Army issued a "fact sheet" which seemed to back away from the regulations.

The British MoD -- like the American Army did before in its "fact sheet" -- insists that "the rules are not new." On its official blog, this Ministry notes:

These or similar have been around for years... They have been updated this year to reflect... changes in communication technology (the rise of self-publishing on the web etc).
Most public and private organisations of any size – in the UK and elsewhere - have rules on the authorisation processes to be followed before people speak publicly or to the media. Such rules are not unique to MOD. We want people to communicate what they do. But it must be properly authorised by their boss and, if it is potentially newsworthy, by MOD centrally.

The Ministry also says that the new rules are in response to the HMS
Cornwall incident, when sailors held captive in Iran were paid for their stories.
"Receiving money for interviews, conferences and books which draw on official defence experience has now been banned," the Guardian notes.

But former Royal Navy officer Lew Page says "this isn't about" the Cornwall meltdown.

There has been nothing actually done about the
Iran/sailors clusterfuck. No heads have rolled. The foolish decision to use anti-submarine frigates for dangerous inshore board-and-search work has been retrospectively OK'd in a classified report. And nobody at all has been held accountable for the frankly bizarre decision to let editors bribe young, stressed personnel into signing fairytales ghostwritten by tabloid hacks...

Meanwhile, leakers and whistle blowers will still be able to operate with impunity...
Soldiers will still be able to blog, post and upload - if necessary using untraceable connections, to be found in any internet cafe or open
Wi-Fi box if nothing more skillful comes to hand. So this new diktat achieves nothing, while costing a lot in terms of goodwill and image.

(High five: JQP, JA)