Russia bans soldiers from sharing information on social networks

Russian soldiers are taking photos with people at the military base. Illustration photo: AFP.

The Russian Defense Ministry's Department of Force Management and Coordination recently drafted a regulation banning soldiers and military personnel from posting and sharing information on social networking sites, according to BBC.

A representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense said that this regulation is expected to take effect in January 2018 with the aim of increasing the security of information related to national security.

Russian soldiers are said to have inadvertently revealed military secrets to hostile forces when posting personal information on social media. In 2015, for example, a Vice News reporter easily confirmed the presence of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine thanks to a series of selfies shared by Russian soldiers.

The regulation is also aimed at preventing hostile forces from being able to track the location of Russian soldiers because some social networks such as Twitter are always connected to GPS positioning systems.

Previously, the Russian State Security Service (FSB) also issued regulations forcing employees to limit information sharing via social media. More than 50,000 employees of Russian government agencies were recently issued smartphones that can block Google software and other applications from tracking and collecting user information.

According to VNE