Information Literacy UNL 205x

Unless access to the internet is completely cut off from soldiers, there isn't a chance that the military will be able to stop them from voicing their opinions, be it through Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. While their fears of security, both physical and cyber, are justified I think the military should be able to trust their soldiers enough to not give away sensitive information or do things that leave the computer and network at risk of being vulnerbale to attacks. There will always be that risk, regardless of whether your working from a home computer in New York or a military computer in Afghanistan.

I think that as long as the military allows internet access on their bases and wherever soldiers are stationed, it will be very hard to censor. Of course military officials must be concerned about soldiers leaking important information that could compromise their safety. I think soldiers need to be able to contact their family and friends at home and their families have the right to know what they are doing over seas. The military should only be concerned about dangerous information being exposed, but postings on Facebook, Twitter, and blogs will most likely not be that important, and the contact with people from home and use of the internet could keep moral up which is also important. A possible consequence of internet use is that it could be a distraction, whereas before they had internet soldiers were more isolated and able to focus on their current task.

I agree with both Eric and Cormick when they say that it will be virtually impossible for the military to censor all aspects of the internet. I personally think that the soldiers posting of blogs and facebook etc, is a good wake up call for the America public. Because no one besides the people fighting over in Iraq actually know what its like to be there. And for the soldiers to be able to share their experience with many people who are uneducated about the war is a very eye opening experience. If the military feels that they need to censor the internet then maybe they are trying to hide something from the American people. The military should be more focused on ending the war then what their soldiers are posting on social networking sites. Facebook,myspace and twitter are places where the soldiers can keep in touch with their loved ones because no one knows what tomorrow will bring for our soldiers.

I agree with Eric. There are many ways to get onto these social websites whether it be through personal computer, military computer, or cell phone/PDA device. So censoring or blocking these sites or from blogging will be impossible. (Though you can not doubt the military and say that anything is impossible with them.) Yea you have to be cautious about what type of information the soliders are putting on the web, but I doubt it is anything that will put confident information out there. The sites are mostly used to communicate with your family and friends and connect to your private life that you left back at home. My cousin is in the military and he goes on facebook whenever and just updates everyone on how he is doing what he is up to and he questions how everyone else is doing and asks about his son. Whether they blog about it on the web, letters are just as efficient, they just take longer in the sending and receiving process. If the military made an attempt to prevent the soliders from contacting the outside world it can make their soldiers more depressed. Its hard to concentrate sometimes when you loose a connection with the outside world. Connecting with people other than your fellow soliders can keep you sane when you spend months at a time with strangers (though after awhile you grow to call them family).

As stated by Eric and Cormick it is almost impossible for the military to censor all aspects of the internet. I am a strong believer that the soldiers at war are entitled to post blogs and keep in contact through networks such as twitter, facebook and youtube. The people who want to censor this are those who are able to go home to their families every night and don't understand what the soldiers go through on a daily basis. They don't realize the importance of these networks to keep in contact with their families, and for some be connected with the outside world and keep their sanity. Supposedly they fear through these blogs and social networks there will be information let out that is confidential but i believe the real reason they want to censor internet usage is the fear of Vietnam II. Vietnam was the first war in which people from the united states got to see what the soldiers went through during the war and it caused protest and chaos in the united states with the public. With the internet and blogs being the new form of media i believe the government fears that families and the public will hear the outcry of these soldiers firsthandedly and at a bigger and faster rate. This issue is completely politics, and again politicians forget that these people are humans and fighting a war for our country and rather treat them as though they are caged animals with no rights or freedoms.