US military nude photo sharing scandal widens beyond Marines
Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2017 2:38 pm
US military nude photo sharing scandal widens beyond Marines
27 minutes ago
From the section US & Canada
The nude photo sharing scandal appears to extend far beyond the Marines
US servicemen from all parts of the military have been sharing nude photos of their female colleagues online, it has emerged.
Reports last week uncovered widespread photo sharing by current and former Marines on Facebook, triggering a navy investigation.
But the BBC has seen a message board where servicemen from other branches have shared hundreds of photos.
The Pentagon said such behaviour was "inconsistent" with its values.
Male service members use a message board on an anonymous image hosting website to share nude images of their female counterparts.
They often first post clothed photos of female personnel taken from their social media pages, and ask if any members have nude photos, which they call "wins". Others then post photos.
Those posting sometimes provide names and other details of women, including where they are stationed. Lewd comments accompany many posts.
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The behaviour previously reported was confined to Marines on Facebook.
A Facebook group called Marines United with 30,000 members was recently closed down after the scandal erupted.
'Embarrassment'
The Marines' top commander described the revelations as an "embarrassment".
"When I hear allegations of Marines denigrating their fellow Marines, I don't think such behaviour is that of true warriors or war fighters," Gen Robert Neller said earlier this week.
But the message board on the image-hosting website remains publicly accessible, and indicates that such practices extend throughout the military.
"Just heard [name redacted] and her bf [name redacted] broke up," a comment on 19 December from an anonymous user on a post that appears to involve personnel at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska reads.
"Maybe he would post some."
Another post from a different anonymous user on 12 September reads: "Any wright patt wins? I'll start off with some". The post refers to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
The user then posts self-taken images of a woman in a bikini, and then topless. There are many more explicit images on the message board.
The US Department of Defense said in a statement that it had issued "policy guidance" to prevent and deal with "sexual harassment and hazing".
It is developing a new "comprehensive workplace harassment prevention and response policy", spokesperson Myles Caggins told the BBC.
"The alleged behaviour is inconsistent with our values."
Similar sites
Although the Marines United Facebook group has now closed, there are at least half a dozen similar groups or sites, Marine officials told CBS News.
The Senate Armed Services Committee is due to hold a hearing on the issue next week.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) has launched an investigation and has asked whistleblowers to come forward with information.
On Wednesday, two women who said they were victims spoke out publicly alongside their lawyer, urging others to come forward.
"I can tell you that this exact behaviour leads to the normalisation of sexual harassment and even sexual violence," said Erika Butner, 23, who served in the Marines for four years until last June.
Marines United's activity was first uncovered by The War Horse, a non-profit news organisation run by Marine veteran Thomas Brennan.
Some of the photos are believed to have been taken surreptitiously. Other images are thought to have been consensual, but posted without permission.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39227547
Scandal widens
Marine nude photo investigation reportedly expands to include more military branches
By Carter Sherman on Mar 10, 2017
For the nearly 30,000 members of the Facebook page “Marines United,” a “win” meant adding a nude photograph of a female service member or veteran. The page had hundreds of these “wins,” as members took requests for photos of specific women, identified them by name and rank, and targeted them with sexual, violent comments.
But the scandal that has embroiled the U.S. Marine Corps over this Facebook page for the past week has now reportedly widened to include the rest of the military, as several media outlets report uncovering an anonymous, publicly viewable message board where service members across the military also shared and solicited photos of their female comrades.
News first broke earlier this week that the War Horse — a nonprofit news organization run by Marine veteran Thomas Brennan — had discovered “Marines United,” a private Facebook group for Marines all around the world, according to the Center for Investigative Reporting.
But Facebook isn’t the only place where this has happened, the BBC reported Thursday. Military personnel have also anonymously shared photos of female service members on a message board on a website called Anon-IB. And on Anon-IB, it wasn’t just Marines.
People on the page would often ask for “wins” of specific women, military branches or installations, from the Massachusetts National Guard to Fort Hood in Texas, according to Business Insider.
Within a day of Brennan reaching out to the Marine Corps headquarters regarding Marines United, the Corps had not only requested that Facebook and Google delete the social media accounts responsible for the photos, but also denounced the activity. In a video address to the Corps, the Corps commandant General Robert B. Neller, called the allegations “embarrassing to our Corps, to our families, and to the nation.”
That exposure appears to have led users to flock to the publicly viewable message board, Business Insider found. Two days after the Marines United story broke, one anonymous person reportedly posted on the board, “Come on Marines share the wealth before that site is nuked and all is lost.”
A reply included a link to a Dropbox folder called “Girls of MU.” It included thousands of photos.
While CNN reported that only four branches of the military are currently under investigation, CBS found that the Department of Defense is now looking into all branches. Posting explicit photos without permission could violate a military law against “indecent viewing, visual recording and broadcasting,” Marine Corps spokesperson Capt. Ryan Alvis told the Marine Corps Times. The punishment is up to seven years in prison.
The Senate Armed Forces Committee will hold an open hearing on the Marines United page next Tuesday. In the meantime, Justine Elena — a Marine Corps Reserves captain and Daily Show with Trevor Noah staffer — has launched “Female Marines United,” a GoFundMe campaign to solicit donations for a non-profit that provides mental health help to combat veterans.
“We want women who have dealt with issues of online harassment, sexism, and feeling marginalized to know that they are not alone,” Elena writes on the GoFundMe page, “that there are men and women in addition to a number of organizations and individuals who support the military, but condemn Marines United and other sites that have dehumanized women in service.”
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service did not immediately return a request for comment.
https://news.vice.com/story/marine-nude ... y-branches
‘Marines United’ Is Now Sharing Explicit Videos Of Servicewomen On Porn Sites
By JARED KELLER on March 9, 2017 T&P ON FACEBOOK
The reports of the demise of ‘Marines United’ are greatly exaggerated.
The 30,000-member Facebook group that served as ground zero for the nude photo-sharing scandal that’s rocked the Marine Corps is alive and well. Despite an ongoing investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and a harsh warning from Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller, the members of a new private Facebook group called “Marines United 2.0” (or MU2.0, apparently) have resumed uploading and sharing explicit photos of their fellow servicewomen.
The new group currently boasts more than 2,300 members, the vast majority posting under their personal Facebook pages. Task & Purpose also confirmed that members are not only reconstituting the original cache of explicit photos from the original group on a new DropBox page, but posting videos to public pornography sites like PornHub.
The comments on one video make reference to the woman featured as a ‘POG’ (for civilians: a ‘person-other-than-grunt,’ or support personnel), as well as the new DropBox folders containing explicit images and videos salvaged from the original Marines United group.
PornHub Marines United comments
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Distributing explicit photos of their sisters-in-arms appears to be an act of defiance in the wake of the scandal. The members of the new Marines United 2.0 Facebook group aren’t just sharing nudes, but taunting both government and military officials who have promised to squelch this nasty trend.
“It would be hilarious if one of these FBI or (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) fucks found their wife on here,” one member wrote, according to CNN.
“They can investigate all they want,” another wrote. “It’s not illegal to share nudes lol.”
More than 30 states have so-called “revenge porn” laws that prohibit the distribution of explicit photographs without the subject’s consent. Article 120c of the Uniform Code of Military Justice explicitly prohibits photographing or recording “another person’s private area without the person’s consent,” as well as broadcasting and distributing that material.
Others claimed that such activity was protected under the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, which legal experts have pointed out is a weak, idiotic argument.
Since the original story about the photo-sharing scandal broke on Saturday, several servicewomen have come forward to share their experience with having their privacy violated by their fellow Marines. Elle Audra, who left the Marines in 2010, told Marine Corps Times that she started receiving harassing messages that suggested her photos had shown up on original Marines United page.
“The messages are usually something around like: ‘Where were you when I was in? I would’ve fucked you too,’” Audra told Marine Corps Times. “I advocate for survivors of sexual assault and I’m beyond relieved that someone finally told the truth about what actually happens to most female Marines. I believe this is a start to a better and safer Marine Corps.”
The existence of the new Facebook page was first reported by freelance reporter and Marine veteran James LaPorta. Task & Purpose independently confirmed the existence of the group.
Members of the group responded to LaPorta’s reporting by threatening both him and his son over social media, while the group administrator named Chris Stiffler (yes, really) cautioned members from admitting Blue Falcons, a comrade-in-arms who screws over his fellow soldiers.
“Everyone in this forum is open to all active and former military,” wrote Stiffler. “Just please be careful on who you approve request for [sic] because we don’t need any goddamn Blue Falcons up in this mother******”
Stiffler also posted a warning to journalists writing about the group. “If you are going to talk about me get it right,” he added. “It’s MU2.0 not MU2. Fucking rookies.”
Stiffler did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
http://taskandpurpose.com/new-marines-u ... orn-sites/