Army tells soldiers to stop blogging

New security orders from the U.S. Army direct soldiers to stop posting on personal blogs or sending email messages without the permission of a superior officer. Wired News has obtained a copy of the order, issued April 19th.

The document states that "in recent years, the Internet has become an ever-greater source of open source information for adversaries of the U.S., websites in particular, especially personal websites of Individual Soldiers."

Advocates of blogs written by the troops say that they often present some of the best public relations material the military could hope for, by putting a human face on the conflict.

While it's probably not a good idea to post confidential information about upcoming combat maneuvers on the internet, these measures prohibit soldiers from posting anything at all online without the express consent of a supervisor. That could essentially prevent most soldiers from blogging, as they may be uncomfortable asking for permission, or their commanding officers may not have the time to read each blog entry.