MoD releases YouTube videos warning of careless talk on social media sites

Ministry of Defence urges servicemen and women, and their families, to be careful about sharing sensitive material online During the second world war, the propaganda motto from the British government was simple enough: careless talk costs lives. Things have become a little more complicated since then, but for the Ministry of Defence, the maxim still rings true. It has implored its servicemen and women, and their families, to be careful about gossiping online, using videos on YouTube to highlight the dangers of sharing sensitive material on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. In one personal security film , a mother is seen receiving a Facebook message from her son, who is serving abroad in Afghanistan at a forward operating base (FOB). “Hi Mum, hope you’re well,” writes Mark. “Just posted some new pics, the tan is coming along nicely as you can see. Big day tomorrow at FOB Jackson, major V VIP stuff happening so we’re all on our best behaviour, see you soon.” Mark has obviously committed the first offence. But mum also forgets to keep, well, mum – sharing the message with all of her friends. And the consequence of such rash behaviour? She is seen on the sofa, chatting away with an armed terrorist over tea and cakes. The message in another video is equally stark. Two sailors are off for a night out on the town, messaging friends that they are just leaving their ship, and telling them which nightclub they are heading to. The friends are then joined on the dancefloor by two balaclava-wearing men, waving machine guns over their heads. “Is it just your mates who know where you have checked in?” the film asks. Both videos end with the warning: “Think before you tweet, blog, update, tag, comment, check-in, upload, text, share.” The films have received a wry reception from some viewers. One posted: “Navy personnel would have been able to use their specialist training to detect and avoid the dancing terrorists.” The MoD, though, said the underlying message is important – two more short videos are being made and should be ready by next month. It said it did not want to gag people, or stop them using social media. “There have been cases recently when people have given away details of when a ship is due home, or when a plane is about to land,” said a spokesman. “These things happen in the excitement of homecomings and are unintentional. But we don’t want to give the enemy the edge. We’re just asking servicemen and women, and their families, to be a little more circumspect when they use these sites.” Military Defence policy YouTube Facebook Twitter Social media Nick Hopkins guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 14, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.