New military policy for twittering soldiers

According to the New York Times, the imminent release of a Pentagon policy on usage of sites like Twitter and Facebook will be welcome news for soldiers (and their family members) – they will be allowed to use military computers on unclassified networks to access and use those and others social networking services.

Until now, this kind of use of military capabilities was in most cases denied for reasons such as critical bandwidth consumption and security concerns (the possibility of sensitive information being shared online by troops in the field). Soldiers were allowed the use of personal computers on private ISPs.

It seems that the Department of Defense is ready to play the game and find a comfortable balance between the risks and the opportunities the Internet brings. William Lynn III, Deputy Defense Secretary, is of the opinion that social networking sites can “help disseminate the Pentagon’s message at home and abroad”.