Britain warns against troops’ careless talk online
Britain’s Ministry of Defence has revived a World War II-era
information campaign to warn its military personnel to be careful what
they divulge on Facebook, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
“Careless Talk Costs Lives” was a famous poster campaign launched in
1940 showing people chatting in everyday situations such as on a bus or
in a telephone booth, not noticing caricatures of Hitler listening to
their conversations.
Fast forward to 2011, and the Ministry of Defence has launched a
similar campaign with YouTube videos to warn service personnel of the
dangers of putting information about themselves or operations on social
networking sites.
The enemy this time is a gun-toting terrorist in a black balaclava.
The campaign is in response to concerns that the armed forces are
putting themselves at personal risk by posting where they hang out or
live, or are jeopardising operations by revealing the deployments of
ships or aircraft.
“There have been incidents where things have been posted or it has
had a knock-on effect, but I’m not going to go into specifics,” the
spokeswoman said.
One YouTube video shows a mother receiving a Facebook message from
her son in Afghanistan, where he describes a visit by a VIP to his
forward operating base. She reposts the message, and is later shown
having tea with a terrorist.
“Social media has enabled our personnel to stay in touch with their
families and their friends no matter where they are in the world,” said
military spokesman Major General John Lorimer in a statement.
“We want our men and women to embrace the use of sites like Twitter,
Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube, but also want them to be aware of the
risks that sharing too much information may pose.
AFP |