Army personnel should anetworking sites so that their details are not void posting professional information on social misused by anti-national elements.

The Army has already released circulars barring its personnel from posting any such information in the first place. For those whose details are already on these sites, the Army has asked them to withdraw the same.

Even though the personnel may not intend to leak information, their profile details on these networking sites may provide enough details for the enemy to interpret and misuse it. Several officers have been known to post all information ranging from their rank to unit, current location and pictures of critical positions.

As the matter concerns national security, ex-servicemen have also been advised officers to avoid posting such details on the sites.

With more than 11,30,000 soldiers in active service and nearly 1,800,000 in reserve, the Indian Army is the third largest force in the world. It is, therefore, imperative that the Army keeps a close watch on officers divulging information on these sites.

If any officer violates the orders and continues to share such content, disciplinary action should be taken.

There are rules pertaining to ‘good order and discipline’ under the Army Act, a violation of which can land a soldier in prison for up to seven years.