A U.S. Navy memo released this month details military personnel’s responsibilities when posting on social media.
The service said in the memo that it is reviewing reports of personnel violating its current social media policies. The disclosure of an internal review appears to be one of the main differences between the new memo and a previous social media guideline memo released March 14.
“We are committed to upholding the highest standards of conduct,” the guidance read.
“Service members are expected to uphold Navy and Marine Corps core values on duty, off duty, and online,” it said.
The memo reiterated previously shared social media standards for service members, instructing all personnel to ensure that personal social media accounts clearly communicate that opinions expressed on online platforms are not sanctioned by the U.S. Navy or Defense Department.
Individuals are allowed to display military titles and or photos of themselves in uniform but must make sure that when doing so the affiliated content does not appear to be sanctioned by the service, according to the new memo.
If there is any concern that the content might violate the latter tenet, the memo instructed service members to include a disclaimer saying their content solely reflects their personal views, not those of the Defense Department.
Service members can use social media accounts to send official information if they do not imply that the Navy or Defense Department supports their opinions. Service members must also make sure not to disclose unauthorized or nonpublic information when communicating over social media.
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The memo reminds military personnel that they are always subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, pointing out a list of offenses they are in danger of violating if they don’t follow social media guidelines.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle released a Sept. 15 memo providing instruction to military leaders on how to identify and track reports of unprofessional social media use.
The Defense Department has not been shy about disciplining service members for a potential violation of those guidelines.
In September, longtime U.S. Navy doctor Janelle Marra was fired as director of medical services at Expeditionary Medical Facility 150-Bravo in San Diego, California, for a potential misuse of social media.
The firing came after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth retweeted an X post from conservative social media account Libs of TikTok that took issue with a job title displayed on Marra’s LinkedIn that read “Navy Deputy Medical Director for Transgender Health Care.”
Hegseth announced Marra’s firing in his reposting of the conservative account’s post.
It appeared that Marra never officially held the position she had listed and instead was nominated at one time for a once-proposed transgender health center within the Defense Health Agency that ended up never being created.
Memos are typically uploaded to the MyNavy HR website’s ALNAV section, but due to the government shutdown and lapse in appropriations, the website has not been updated, prompting Navy personnel to look elsewhere.
Service members have instead turned toward the My Navy HR’s Instagram page for news of updates.
Alexis Travis, a Naval officer with more than 150,000 followers on Instagram, uploaded a post breaking down the biggest differences between the new social media guidelines and previous ones.
Travis said she and other service members interpreted aspects of the new memo to mean that communicating information was allowed so long as opinions about DOD policies were not included.
“It’s not that you can’t deliver information, it’s that you shouldn’t be providing your personal opinion,” Travis said of how she was interpreting the new guidance in her Instagram post. “You shouldn’t be saying this is good policy or bad policy.”
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.
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