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The censorship at Army bases across the U.S. is in place to ward off further leaks and ensure 'network hygiene,' said Gordon Van Vleet, spokesman for the Army's NETCOM network. He told the Monterey Herald:
"We make every effort to balance the need to preserve information access with operational security, however, there are strict policies and directives in place regarding protecting and handling classified information."
Yet, supporters of whistleblower rights argue that media filtering from the Army command ultimately cannot stop soldiers from learning about them or prevent them from potentially acting on their own consciences.
"The Army is scared of its own soldiers finding out what groups like the Army are up to," said Ryan Harvey, organizer with the Bradley Manning Support Network. "If anyone has information about the actions of the U.S. government it is the soldiers themselves. Society has this distorted mythology of what the U.S. does in the world. Members of the military, who are put through hell in the name of U.S. interests, know what's going on."
"Bradley Manning was part of the Army, and there are other Bradley Mannings out there," continued Harvey. "That is what Snowden is showing us now. The military is filled with people upset with what's going on. The more those service members see people taking meaningful action on these injustices, the more they will want to take action themselves."
The blackout was exposed by the Monterey Herald when people at the Presidio of Monterey Army public affairs base in California were unable to access Guardian articles about the NSA leaks.
While the blocks were at first believed to just at the California base, Army officials confirmed Thursday an Army-wide block of the Guardian.
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The censorship at Army bases across the U.S. is in place to ward off further leaks and ensure 'network hygiene,' said Gordon Van Vleet, spokesman for the Army's NETCOM network. He told the Monterey Herald:
"We make every effort to balance the need to preserve information access with operational security, however, there are strict policies and directives in place regarding protecting and handling classified information."
Yet, supporters of whistleblower rights argue that media filtering from the Army command ultimately cannot stop soldiers from learning about them or prevent them from potentially acting on their own consciences.
"The Army is scared of its own soldiers finding out what groups like the Army are up to," said Ryan Harvey, organizer with the Bradley Manning Support Network. "If anyone has information about the actions of the U.S. government it is the soldiers themselves. Society has this distorted mythology of what the U.S. does in the world. Members of the military, who are put through hell in the name of U.S. interests, know what's going on."
"Bradley Manning was part of the Army, and there are other Bradley Mannings out there," continued Harvey. "That is what Snowden is showing us now. The military is filled with people upset with what's going on. The more those service members see people taking meaningful action on these injustices, the more they will want to take action themselves."
The blackout was exposed by the Monterey Herald when people at the Presidio of Monterey Army public affairs base in California were unable to access Guardian articles about the NSA leaks.
While the blocks were at first believed to just at the California base, Army officials confirmed Thursday an Army-wide block of the Guardian.
_________________________
The censorship at Army bases across the U.S. is in place to ward off further leaks and ensure 'network hygiene,' said Gordon Van Vleet, spokesman for the Army's NETCOM network. He told the Monterey Herald:
"We make every effort to balance the need to preserve information access with operational security, however, there are strict policies and directives in place regarding protecting and handling classified information."
Yet, supporters of whistleblower rights argue that media filtering from the Army command ultimately cannot stop soldiers from learning about them or prevent them from potentially acting on their own consciences.
"The Army is scared of its own soldiers finding out what groups like the Army are up to," said Ryan Harvey, organizer with the Bradley Manning Support Network. "If anyone has information about the actions of the U.S. government it is the soldiers themselves. Society has this distorted mythology of what the U.S. does in the world. Members of the military, who are put through hell in the name of U.S. interests, know what's going on."
"Bradley Manning was part of the Army, and there are other Bradley Mannings out there," continued Harvey. "That is what Snowden is showing us now. The military is filled with people upset with what's going on. The more those service members see people taking meaningful action on these injustices, the more they will want to take action themselves."
The blackout was exposed by the Monterey Herald when people at the Presidio of Monterey Army public affairs base in California were unable to access Guardian articles about the NSA leaks.
While the blocks were at first believed to just at the California base, Army officials confirmed Thursday an Army-wide block of the Guardian.
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LATEST NEWS
Latest Trump Order Seen as Message to Workers: 'Fall in Line or Else'
"President Trump's latest executive order is a disgraceful and retaliatory attack on the rights of hundreds of thousands of patriotic American civil servants—nearly one-third of whom are veterans—simply because they are members of a union that stands up to his harmful policies," said Everett Kelley, president of the 820,000-member American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the nation's largest union of federal workers.
"The labor movement is not about to let Trump and an un-elected billionaire destroy what we’ve fought for generations to build. We will fight this outrageous attack on our members with every fiber of our collective being." —Liz Shuler, AFL-CIO
The far-reaching order, which cites the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act as the source of his presidential authority, goes way beyond restricting collective bargaining and union representation at agencies with a national security mandate, but instead tries to ensnare dozens of federal agencies and classifications of federal workers who work beyond that scope.
According to the Associated Press, the intent of the order "appears to touch most of the federal government."
AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler responded with disgust to the order, pointing out that the move comes directly out of the pre-election blueprint of the Heritage Foundation, which has been planning this kind of attack against the federal workforce and collective bargaining for years, if not decades.
"Straight out of Project 2025, this executive order is the very definition of union-busting," said Schuler in a Thursday night statement. "It strips the fundamental right to unionize and collectively bargain from workers across the federal government at more than 30 agencies. The workers who make sure our food is safe to eat, care for our veterans, protect us from public health emergencies and much more will no longer have a voice on the job or the ability to organize with their coworkers for better conditions at work so they can efficiently provide the services the public relies upon."
Shuler said the order is clearly designed as "punishment for unions who are leading the fight against the administration's illegal actions in court—and a blatant attempt to silence us."
The White House practically admitted as much, saying in a statement that "Trump supports constructive partnerships with unions who work with him; he will not tolerate mass obstruction that jeopardizes his ability to manage agencies with vital national security missions." In effect, especially with a definition of "national security" that encompasses a vast majority of all government functions and agencies, the president has told an estimated two-thirds of government workers they are no longer allowed to disagree with or obstruct his efforts as they organize to defend their jobs or advocate for better working conditions.
Describing the move as "bullying tactics" by Trump and his administration, Kelley said the order represents "a clear threat not just to federal employees and their unions, but to every American who values democracy and the freedoms of speech and association. Trump’s threat to unions and working people across America is clear: fall in line or else."
"These threats will not work. Americans will not be intimidated or silenced. AFGE isn't going anywhere. Our members have bravely served this nation, often putting themselves in harm’s way, and they deserve far better than this blatant attempt at political punishment," he added.
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 11: Members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union protest against firings during a rally to defend federal workers in Washington, DC on February 11, 2025.
Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images
Both AFGE and the AFL-CIO said they would fight the order tooth and nail on behalf of federal workers—and all workers—who have a right to collective bargaining and not to be intimidated for organizing their workplaces, whether in the public or private sector.
"To every single American who cares about the fundamental freedom of all workers, now is the time to be even louder," said Shuler. "The labor movement is not about to let Trump and an un-elected billionaire destroy what we've fought for generations to build. We will fight this outrageous attack on our members with every fiber of our collective being."
Kelley said AFGE was "preparing immediate legal action" in response to Trump's order, and vowed to "fight relentlessly to protect our rights, our members, and all working Americans from these unprecedented attacks."
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