Loose lips: Free speech and the Canadian Forces
The treatment of Canadian Forces veterans has been a difficult subject this past year. One story in particular caught a lot of attention — “Wounded soldiers told to sign form agreeing not to criticize military for their own good”, which first ran in September of 2013 in the Ottawa Citizen and The Star, and again in April of 2014 in The National Post.
This news item reported on allegations that wounded soldiers were required to sign a form essentially governing what they could or could not say to the public. It has since been confirmed that there is such a document, which was created in March 2013 and is given to soldiers transferring to the Joint Personnel Support Unit (JPSU), a post-deployment casualty support system linking physically or mentally wounded soldiers to available services.
The form itself specifically addresses comments on social media and claims that, while neither the Canadian Armed Forces nor JPSU can dictate what forms of social media individuals can use, there may be disciplinary action for unprofessional behaviour or content. “It must be clearly understood,” the form states, “that the inappropriate use of social media can have serious ramifications for the CAF; it can erode public trust, cause serious breaches of security and destroy team cohesion.”
The form provides a list of do’s and don’ts to guide members on appropriate and inappropriate content:
Read more... http://www.ipolitics.ca/2014/06/20/loose-lips-free-speech-and-the-canadian-forces/
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