After many opsec fails, Russia seeks to ban soldier social media spoilers

now being considered by Russia’s Duma would attempt to bring to an end a particular practice among members of Russia’s armed forces that has become something of a diplomatic and tactical thorn in the military’s side—the posting of photos and other information on social media that gives away the operations and positions of their units.

The draft bill states that “servicemen are prohibited to place in mass media, and the Internet information (including photos, video, geolocation data and other information) about yourself and other servicemen disclosing the department they belong to, information about their official activities or service activities of other military personnel, the activities of military units, organizations and units in which they perform military service, and their place of deployment, except for cases provided for by regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation.”

In an explanatory note, the bill’s authors stated: