JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s army will block its soldiers’ access to social media sites while they are on base.
The soldiers would be barred from Facebook and Twitter, as well as gmail and Yahoo! mail, in offices with Internet connections, the head of the army’s Intelligence Corps information security said Tuesday, according to reports. Cell phone use also could be limited.
The new restrictions will be undertaken in order to prevent security leaks and the posting of embarrassing photos and blogs, the reports said.
The sites would be available in solder’s break rooms, and could be accessed on private cell phones, however.
In recent months, soldiers have posted photos on Facebook and videos on YouTube that have damaged the image of Israel’s military, including line dancing while on patrol in Hebron and belly dancing around a blindfolded Palestinian woman. An army operation had to be called off after information was leaked on a social network site.
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