Soldiers banned from access to YouTube, MySpace

The ability to view videos or talk with family has been yanked from soldiers who do not have access to their own computers and rely on the government computers to do so.

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.

Soldiers were already barred from sharing certain information with others that would jeopardize their mission or safety. The Army uploads videos to YouTube and now the soliders without personal computers will be unable to view these videos. According to Noah Shachtman, who runs a blog for Wired Magazine, these restrictions also prevent the soldiers from sending out positive messages from the field.

"This is as much an information war as it is bombs and bullets," he said. "And they are muzzling their best voices."

HT: Cao's Blog

Linked at Conservative Cat
Don Surber
Dumb Ox Daily News

Technorati Tags: Soldiers, Defense Department, Army, Web, Government