Military Censorship?

There has been much todo made about the new Pentagon unit "keeping watch" over the military bloggers, or "milblogs".

Part of this is certainly valid comment. There is concern, voiced particularly articulately by Matt at Blackfive. In lieu of excellent reporting of war experiences by the media (by accident or design is another debate), and with the technology of today permitting a more immediate equal of yesterday's letters home, milblogs are wonderful.

Yet, military members also sacrifice many of the rights that all other citizens take for granted.

Walk up to your boss and insult him in a particularly vile manner, most likely you'll be fired. If I do it, I may end up in jail. Military jail. Fun place.

Wear your work outfit to a political rally, and unless you're the local garbage collector, few may notice. Should I do it, definite punishment is likely.

These are just a couple of examples. It's said that the military exercises control over every facet of a servicemember's life, and there is quite a bit of truth to that.

And so, when it comes to milblogs, the military actually has, at the base level, two requests: 1) Don't use government property to update your website and 2) don't reveal military secrets or information that may be harmful to military operations.

Fair enough. Yes, the enforcement is left up to individual commanders, as are most regulations. This certainly makes it interesting.

So, do you continue milblogging? It's a decision each milblogger must make on their own.

One final thought... letters home in WW2 were censored, too.