Israeli soldiers using Facebook to face restrictions
TEL AVIV — Israel's military is cracking down on Internet use by
combat soldiers.
In April, the Defense Ministry and military drafted restrictions for
Facebook, a social network that includes photographs, videos and e-mail
addresses. More than one percent of Americans in Israel's military were reported to have joined
Facebook.
Officials said registration by
military personnel for Internet services could expose them to hostile
agents.
"Today, the Internet is the easiest way to find somebody and obtain his
identity," an official said. "We can't afford that."
Officials said Hamas and Hizbullah have been trained by Iran to identify
and target Israeli soldiers and defense officials through the Internet. They
said soldiers, particularly in the standing army, have been lax in
communicating in chat rooms and other forums.
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Under the new regulations, soldiers could create pages on Facebook. But
officials said the soldiers were prohibited from identifying themselves as
working for the military.
Officials said the restrictions were imposed after soldiers posted
had photographs of themselves posing with Israeli military equipment. Some
of the equipment was said to have been classified.