Pentagon Embraces Web 2.0 in Social Media Policy

By: Karen Wilkinson on March 02, 2010

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The Pentagon is jumping into the online world it once placed restrictions upon with a newly released policy for using social networking and other Web 2.0 sites.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) on Friday, Feb. 26, released a policy "for responsible and effective use of Internet-based capabilities." It essentially lifts bans on access to social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, image and video hosting sites like YouTube and Flickr, and blogs. Prior to this policy, the Marine Corps in August 2009, flat-out banned social media sites from its networks, fearing that such access could lead to national security breaches.

"It was very hit-and-miss across the board as to who could get access and who couldn't and why," said Jack Holt, DOD senior strategist for emerging media. "More and more, we were finding ourselves restricted from going anywhere [online]. Interaction outside the DOD had to happen, and more and more we were shutting ourselves from that."

The policy doesn't give service members free rein on the Internet, however.

Go to Government Technology to learn more about the DOD’s social media policy.

[Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy.]

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