Report: Air Force Blocks Access to 25 Websites Over WikiLeaks
- Posted on December 14, 2010 at 7:00pm by
Meredith Jessup
- Print »
- Email »
The U.S. Air Force has restricted access to websites like that of the New York Times and other major publications for employees after the online sites published secret materials obtained by WikiLeaks, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Air Force users who try to view the websites of the New York Times, Britain’s Guardian, Spain’s El Pais, France’s Le Monde or German magazine Der Spiegel instead get a page that says, “ACCESS DENIED. Internet Usage is Logged & Monitored,” according to a screen shot reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The notice warns that anyone who accesses unauthorized sites from military computers could be punished.
The Air Force says it has blocked more than 25 websites that contain WikiLeaks documents, in order to keep classified material off unclassified computer systems. Major Toni Tones, a spokeswoman for Air Force Space Command, wouldn’t name the websites but said they may include media sites. Removing such material after it ends up on a computer could require “unnecessary time and resources,” Major Tones said.
The move was ordered by the 24th Air Force, commanded by Major Gen. Richard E. Webber, following the late November publication of U.S. diplomatic cables. The Army, Navy and Marines aren’t blocking the sites, and the Defense Department hasn’t told the services to do so, according to spokespeople for the services and the Pentagon.
The Office of Defense Secretary Robert Gates has issued internet guidelines for DoD personnell regarding visits to WikiLeaks sites or the downloading of documents posted there and the Air Force has reiterated this stance to its own personnel in the past.
An unnamed senior Defense official told the Wall Street Journal that blocking the newspaper sites may not be the smartest move, suggesting blocking sites like the New York Times’ is a “misinterpretation” of military guidelines.
But not everyone is condemning the Air Force’s move against sites publishing secret government documents. Congressman-elect Allen West, R-Fla., recently suggested the government should censor American news agencies helping to disperse the classified materials:
There are different means by which you can be attacked. I mean it doesnt have to be a bomb or an airplane flying into a building. It doesn’t have to be a shooting. It can be through cyber attacks, it could be through leaking of very sensitive classified information. Regardless of whether you think it causes any harm, the fact that here is an individual that is not an American citizen first and foremost, for whatever reason gotten his hands on classified American material and put it out there in the public domain. And I think that we also should be censoring the American news agencies which enabled him to do this and also supported him and applauding him for the efforts. So that’s kind of aiding and abetting of a serious crime.
The Air Force‘s new order doesn’t prevent its personnel from viewing the blocked media on non-military computers and the block may be lifted if access to the various sites is essential to a worker’s job.
Comments (32)
Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In
Popular Stories
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 581 Comments
‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 407 Comments
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 407 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 373 Comments
President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 358 Comments
Faith
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 407 Comments
Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 407 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
- President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 358 Comments
- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 151 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 302 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 407 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
historypaper
Posted on December 15, 2010 at 2:25pmI’m thinking about free press and then the military.
Report Post »Barb1954
Posted on December 15, 2010 at 8:32amLook…..the New York Times named ADOLF HITLER as their “Man of the Year” in like 1935 or so! WHY they CONTINUE to spew their VENOM all this many years later I will NEVER understand!
Report Post »Oldphoto678
Posted on December 15, 2010 at 9:46amI think that was Time magazine.
Report Post »Oldphoto678
Posted on December 15, 2010 at 9:49amIt‘s clear that there is much that you don’t understand.
Report Post »EP46
Posted on December 15, 2010 at 5:06amNo problem with blocking any internet access while AT WORK As mentioned above, most people working do not have internet access while WORKING, that is up to the Boss…but keep in mind
FCC VOTE ON NET NEUTRALITY next week.
I wonder if the leak was suppose to RAISE OUTRAGE by the public so the gov would take more control? When they did not get the outrage..they will have to do something else.
The info is out there..no going back… and the gov let it go on for almost a year, so I think they were hoping for a big public outrage. Once it is out..it is out.
Gov did not do their job protecting access within the Pentagon …they should do their job and it is not their job to shut down what a foreigner puts on the internet..punish ALL the people responsible for ‘stealing’ the info …but do NOT CONTROL world wide info once it is released.
MUST PROTECT INTERNET AT ALL COSTS
Report Post »staythecourse
Posted on December 15, 2010 at 4:48amAirforce: SNAFU…. This is blocking of access to what everyone else has access to is stupid. Some might label it as “willful blindness”.
Report Post »BibleBrain
Posted on December 15, 2010 at 1:21pmThis is the kinda crap that drives people nuts: “its classified info”…problem is they are failing to acknowledge current reality (info was leaked and published) and in classic form, bureaucrats act according to regulations without using an ounce of judgment/common sense in an attempt to remain free of accusation, negatively affecting efficiency. It’s a failure of leadership to lead.
Report Post »Rights of Man
Posted on December 15, 2010 at 3:57amYeah, we need to keep our military uninformed of what the government they serve is up to.
Makes perfect sense to me, comrades.
I mean, you gotta make ‘em idiots before they’re useful, right?
I don’t like it–not one bit.
Report Post »MeteoricLimbo
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 11:05pmtake a peek at the shower, relax
Report Post »http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors
82dAirborne
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 9:20pmMuch ado about nothing. If a military member wants to read the posts all they need do is to use a private computer.
The military is a different animal. When is the last time you held a job where your boss could, within the law, shoot you for breaking the rules? When you freely join the military – any branch – you are taught the rules of the game. The rules are different because they have to be to accomplish the mission. Discipline is different because it has to be. It would never work any other way.
Report Post »Chet Hempstead
Posted on December 15, 2010 at 3:39amWe all get that there are rules and reasons for those rules. But this is such an obvious case of enforcing a rule when the reason for the rule no longer applies, that it reveals a kind of rigid orthodoxy, a lack of adaptability and common sense that is not a strength for any organization, military or otherwise. To pretend to protect a “secret” that can be read by any civilian in any counrtry in the world is the behavior of a robot, not a thinking being.
Report Post »kryptonite
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 8:56pmI hope this restriction can be used to prove the New York Times is legally liable. In fact, the New York Times claims that the first dump they published did not come from Wikileaks but from another source they have refused to disclose. http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thecutline/20101128/ts_yblog_thecutline/nyt-worked-several-weeks-on-leaked-cables-wikileaks-wasnt-direct-source-for-docs
Report Post »SUEB
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 8:01pmWIKILEAKS where are you….bring on the files about OBAMA…N O W……..SOS
Report Post »DagnysCousin
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 7:32pmJust because something classified appears in public sources doesn’t mean it is suddenly unclassified. And just because a member of the military may have a security clearance it doesn’t give them authorized access to all things classified. Those with integrity don’t go looking for this material in their off time either.
Report Post »Its Gonna Getcha
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 7:30pmAnything to pick up the slack left by this dysfunctional administration is fine by me.
Report Post »J.C. McGlynn
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 7:21pmFrom what I can gather, blocked sites are on base/military computers.
Report Post »On personal computers, they are not blocked.
Beckofile
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 9:58pmRead the article dumb ass. It says they are only blocked on base computers.
Modawg734Blue
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 7:18pmIf they are computers on Air force nets, good idea. As an employer, I don’t want my employees wasting company time either. And these Web sites sound like a waste of time if you are searching for truth. BZ to the Air Force.
Report Post »PatriotsCause
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 7:15pmBeing a Veteran of the US Air Force I know that there may be some regulations and directives that may not make any sense. But I‘m not sure what this one will accomplish since it was stated that this only applies to the use of government computers and not personal ones and there is even a waiver if the person’s job requires them to view those sites in question from that government computer.
I’d be willing to bet that any member of any of the branches of the Armed Forces that had the desire to view those leaked documents have already done so or will just use a non-government computer to do so.
But “the needs of the mission” come first and foremost so those rules must be followed or the individual(s) can and will suffer the consequences.
Report Post »bolec slodkie
Posted on December 15, 2010 at 7:25amThe purpose of the block is to keep “improperly declassified” material off the government computers. If someone classifies a picture of an airplane because of where it is taken, even though it is a plane we have a picture of it must remain classified. An asset was killed becase the Soviets looked at the background, shadows, and markings on a plane and killed the person who they assumed took the picture.
Report Post »Randyrocker
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 7:14pmThat’s it keep the troops in the dark, just send them out to defend the indefensible and get killed in the process. How sweet it is being kept deaf, dumb and blind, while the Brass and the Big Boys play their big toy games of cover up, lies and deceit. Mustn’t be embarrassed now.
Report Post »MMR
Posted on December 15, 2010 at 1:36pmIt has nothing to do with keeping the troops in the dark. Those docs are released on a need to know basis depending on the mission. If an Airman was to view any of those docs, it will be considered a security violation that could cost them their security clearance. If you lose your clearance and you are required to maintain a clearance for that job, then what good is that Airman for.
Report Post »guyperram
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 7:09pmMost employers limit access to the internet. After all, you are supposed to be working, not playing.
Report Post »ADMIRAL747
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 7:29pmMaybe they can get the info from the Michael Moore mailer:
Report Post »http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/12/bailing_out_assange_what_was_m.html
MAULEMALL
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 7:54pmI think that they must now be considered as Non media and as such they will not have the same protections of legitimate news media….
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 8:24pmThe whole Wikileaks debacle is just a scam. Glenn is right when he says “top down, bottom up and inside out”. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to learn that alot of the info that is being posted by Wikileaks is being fed to them by some of our own traitorous politicians, who want to use it to bring about their Communist utopia.
Report Post »staythecourse
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 8:27pmThis is just a test run to see how to shut down the whole web….GET READY FOLKS…IT’S COMING.
Report Post »jzs
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 8:37pmI don’t want to cause unnecessary panic, but the very well may the the initial clampdown Beck was talking about. We all know the that Communists control of key offices of government, and perhaps the upper echelons of the military is complete (they’ve rejected DADT for example). This is exactly how Hilter moved on Germany. He isolated the military, so their only source of information was Hitler himself (as Obama has done here). Then the blackout of the conservative (read: Republican) opinions spread to the minor government officials, the police, then the populace. So called “Net Neutrality” is a bold and egregious move to allow the government to censor the internet.
Once all fair and balanced news sources have been eliminated, We The People will have no way of learning the Truth behind the government lies!
The revolution, as Beck foretold, has begun! We are all of imperiled! Obama’s private army – the so called Peace Corp – is on the move. The military has been blinded to the truth. This is the hour of which Glenn has prophetically spoken. God help us all!
Report Post »mossbrain
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 9:32pmCongressman-elect Allen West, R-Fla., recently suggested the government should censor American news agencies helping to disperse the classified materials:
Report Post »MeteoricLimbo
Posted on December 14, 2010 at 10:48pmtake it away, they want it back with a why attached
Report Post »GEW
Posted on December 15, 2010 at 12:35amWondering if it might not just be better if the State Department just publish all the these “cables” on line for everyone to see. Then its out there low and behold. What the heck. At least then the State Department would be in CONTROL instead of playing Johnny come lately. Besides, have you seen anything that you would run into the streets to riot over?
Report Post »Chet Hempstead
Posted on December 15, 2010 at 4:11amMAULEMALL “I think that they must now be considered as Non media and as such they will not have the same protections of legitimate news media.”
Just to clarify, are you just talking about Wikileaks, or about The New York Times, The Guardian and Le Monde, too? Because in one case a reasonable argument could be made for your position, while in the other you would be employing a kind of Orwellian doublespeak to advocate the complete elimination of freedom of the press in the United States.
Report Post »