White House Tells All Federal Agencies To Prohibit Employees From Wikileaks Site

[cal04]

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/12/white_house_tells_all_federal_agencies_to_ban_empl.php

The Office of Management and Budget today directed all federal agencies to bar their employees from accessing the Wikileaks web site and its leaked diplomatic cables.

In an email to federal agencies obtained by TPM, the OMB's general counsel directed the agencies to immediately tell their employees to "safeguard classified information" by not accessing Wikileaks over the Internet.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/documents/2010/12/ombs-email-to-government-agencies-about-wikileaks-access.php?page=1

Classified information, the OMB notes, "remains classified ... until it is declassified by an appropriate U.S. Government authority." Employees may not view classified info over a non-classified system (i.e., the Internet), the OMB says, "as doing so risks that material still classified will be placed onto non-classified systems."

(snip)
The email includes a "model notice" for each agency to use. You can see the whole thing here.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/documents/2010/12/ombs-model-memo-to-federal-employees-banning-them-from-wikileaks-site.php?page=1

[somone]

1. Yeah, it'd make them go blind and stuff

[hlthe2b]

11. Guess they'll have to print it out at home and read it at work...

;)

(or peruse it on their iphones)


More political theater....

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Because the truth will set them free...

[MrCoffee]

3. Federal employees have zero expectation of privacy on federal computers

[Better Believe It]

5. That's just like non-federal employees on their home computers!

[rug]

8. That's a different issue entirely.

[tammywammy]

4. You cannot have classified information on an unclassified computer

Here's a good article explaining:

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/12/more-about-secret-info-on-the-front-page/67423

[WilliamPitt]

6. DERP

[aquamarina]

7. This would be unacceptable to me if this order came from

a Bush White House. The fact that it's coming from the Obama White House makes me sick to my stomach.

[HERVEPA]

9. Yup

[tammywammy]

10. This is true for all classified information

I have a security clearance, I cannot just willy nilly access classified information. Wikileaks is still considered classified information.

[ret5hd]

12. best stop reading newspapers or watching the news then

on edit:
it's your duty as a member of the Upright Citizens Brigade

[tammywammy]

14. I've read plenty of articles about Wikileaks

What I haven't done and will not do is go to his site and pursue the cables. Just like I wouldn't go over to a classified computer to read just for fun. Accessing classified information on an unclassified system is a big no-no and you can lose your clearance for it. It's a basic understanding for those with clearances, and with Wikileaks there's been reminders (I've gotten a couple at work) that you would be violating your clearance if you accessed the information he's released.

Just like I don't tell my friends over drinks about classified information I know - you just don't do it.

As for Upright Citizens Brigade, it's not uptight to know the rules of having a clearance when you yourself have one. If you don't have a clearance and want to read it, go ahead, I really don't care. At the same point, those with a clearance should be reminded that reading it is against what you've agreed to.

[EFerrari]

13. Wikileaks is a media outlet, not government property.

And what about The New York Times and The Guardian?

I understand you have to do what you have to do for your job. But don't confuse that with consistency on the part of this gratuitous government crackdown.

[tammywammy]

15. At work, when they've referred to Wikileaks, it's about the documents

A reminder that if you possess a clearance you cannot read the leaked documents. I've read articles discussing it, but I wouldn't try to access the actual documents, as that would be a violation.

And I'm sure the website is blocked at work anyway, I wouldn't know for sure as I haven't/wouldn't try to access it while there.

[beforeyoureyes]

17. You have just described the litmus test for evaluating this President and his policies

It is sad and disturbing that policies that would be universally decried under a Republican President are accepted/tolerated under Obama.

[MisterP]

18. it has huge legitimating and dampening effects when "liberals" advocate illiberal policies

like the "liberal hawks": it 1) makes some low-informed people think there might be something to the allegations, 2) makes liberals hesistate before criticizing a fellow liberal, and 3) legitimizes the action as something approved by all but the fringes of society

"political liberals" like Hitchens, Fallaci, and Dawkins do the same when they denounce intolerance and then vomit BNP talking points about dirty Muslims in Eurabia and the Mideastern Threat

[EFerrari]

16. Everyone under 16, is now 16.

[NuclearDem]

19. The military sent us a similar message when the Afghan War Diaries came out

Not surprising they did it again.