The Pentagon Adopted First Department-Wide Policy To Address Social Media

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Earlier this week, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) released a new policy: “Official Use of Social Media for Public Affairs Purposes,” which was meant to clearly spell out how every individual – from the highest levels of the defense community – can use the platforms to best advance the mission of the United States military. While some agencies and military services may have previously published policies on social media, DODI 5400.17 by the Pentagon is the first to explicitly address this issue.

Andy Oare from the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s digital media director, stated in a statement that it was “long overdue”. Although there have been attempts in the past, it was not possible to achieve this. However, in such a large organization, coordination is essential to ensure that all perspectives are represented and heard. From the start, we wanted services to work together.

Oare said that social media can have an impact on all service members, civilian contractors and their families. Oare stated that the guidelines regarding social media use must be identical for anyone who has an official account and someone who might not have used them before. All of us owe it all to create a single policy which clearly outlines our operation and holds everyone accountable.

According to the updated policy, all posts made from DoD social networks accounts should be true, correct, relevant, timely and with the right tone. Additionally, the posts might need to have been reviewed according to existing policies in order for operation security or information security.

Important First Step

While this might be DoD’s first policy on social media, it won’t likely be the last. Service members who don’t consider the consequences of social media use must be dealt with by the military. AndThey often post there.

While social media is a great way to connect with loved ones and friends, it can also lead to “oversharing” because the posts aren’t subjected the same screening process as service personnel in the past.

Concerns also exist regarding ThisThese platforms are being utilized. TikTok is gaining popularity among younger users. However, U.S. lawmakers and many intelligence community members (IC) expressed concern that Beijing could use the platform owned by China to access information about U.S. citizens.

TikTok claims that U.S. data are safe. However, Trump’s administration wanted to end the service. These concerns persist. The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), which oversees DoD personnel, recommended in 2019 that DoD employees abstain from the social media app. Meanwhile, the Pentagon made it illegal for service members to use TikTok on any government-issued device that year.

Military’s role in social media and military developments

Future directives regarding military operations and the use of social media will be likely to emerge, although the Pentagon is expected to remain more proactive.ReactiveMore than Be proactive.

ClearanceJobs senior editor Jill Hamilton stated that social media is something that has existed for some time.

It also shows the growing importance of social media. Hamilton said that it is no longer appropriate for someone at the junior levels to be in charge of social media. We need to be able to understand the rules and regulations of any department. It’s good to know that, despite soldiers being bad on social media over the years and many mistakes made in the past, this policy doesn’t ban applications. They are putting in place some safeguards to replace what was lacking. The policy has 27 pages, so it will be much easier to take corrective steps for future errors.

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