Marines Issued Revised Social Media Guidelines After Nude Photo Scandal

The U.S. Marine Corps issued social media guidelines on Twitter Wednesday in reaction to the recent spate of nude pictures of female Marines posted online without their consent.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday the point of the new rules was to prevent another nude photo scandal. Neller signed the new guidelines tying the military code of justice punishments to social media sexual harassment, as well as other forms of abuse.

Read: Victims Of Marine Naked Picture Scandal Identified, Speak Out

“Marines must never engage in commentary or publish content on social networking platforms or through other forms of communication that harm good order and discipline or that bring discredit upon themselves, their unit, or the Marine Corps,” one of the guideline reads. “In other words, Marines should think twice before engaging in questionable online activities, and must avoid actions online that threaten the morale, operational readiness and security, or public standing of their units, or that compromise our core values.”

Neller also said the Marine Corps he has served for more than 40 years has a “problem.”

"I think the biggest issue is within the culture. We haven't addressed the fact, within Marines, that all Marines are Marines,” he told the committee. "I think we can fix that."

Earlier this month, a Facebook group, Marines United, which has since been taken down, exposed pictures of naked female Marines. These photos reportedly were taken without their consent. Neller punished those who posted the photos to the private Facebook group, which had attracted about 30,000 members.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., asked Neller about the rate of sexual assaults among the Marines, in which she said it's the highest compared to other service branches.

“It’s hard to believe something is really going to be done when we hear this repeated again and again,” she asked. “Why should we believe it’s going to be different this time than it has in the past?”

“There’s no mystery that this has been going on for a very long time,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand , D-N.Y., said. "If we can’t crack Facebook, how are we supposed to be able to confront Russian aggression and cyber hacking throughout our military?”

Still, Neller said the Marines had learned a lesson.

“Is it’s going to be different? It’s got to be different," he said.