Military Social Media Policy Updated: Air Force Clamps Down After Marines Nude Photo Scandal

On the heels of the Marine Corps’ nude photo-sharing scandal, the Air Force issued tighter guidelines on social media use earlier this month and specifically cautioned against controversial or potentially defamatory posts.

The Air Force released the new 36-page guidelines on March 15, and stated its “Public Web and Social Communication” instruction had been “significantly revised from the previous version to include updates to policy, roles, and responsibility,” Stars and Stripes reported.

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While stating it viewed personal sites and blogs “positively,” the directive focused on the sharing of public or classified materials, as well as copyrighted materials, but it also targeted airmen’s personal use of social media.

It warned: “Do not post any defamatory, libelous, vulgar, obscene, abusive, profane, threatening, hateful, racially, ethnically, or otherwise offensive or illegal information or material.”

The instruction did not directly mention the sharing of photos without a fellow airmen’s permission but did state not to use logos, trademarks or any other intellectual property without the owner’s approval.

It also said best judgment should be used and that “there are always consequences to what is written.”

Permission and the use of words like abusive, vulgar, and obscene, thought, appeared to indirectly address the naked-photo scandal that’s engulfed the Marines and other military branches this month. Reports found members, both active duty and veterans of now-debunked but evolving Facebook group Marines United were sharing pictures and videos of female Marines without their permission.

Some of the pictures and videos showed the women naked and clothed, but group members would actively post and ask for others to find information on the fellow Marines and track down nude photos of them. The Marines Corps later revised its own social media guidelines as the Naval Criminal Investigative Service continued its investigation into the scandal.

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According to Stars and Stripes, after the new guidelines were issued some took to a Reddit page to take umbrage.

“I was about to write some defamatory, libelous, vulgar, obscene, abusive, profane, threatening, hateful, racially, ethnically, or otherwise offensive or illegal information or material in response to this, but then I read your post and found out I’m not allowed to,” a user posted.