“The Air Force Office of Special Investigations is investigating information and photographs from web sites hosting inappropriate photos of service members without prior consent,” Ryder said. Eric Dent, a Marine Corps spokesman.Īir Force investigators also are now combing through a number of websites to look for victims, said Col. At least one such Marine did not agree for his photo to be republished amid a sea of images of men having sex, according Lt. On some of the gay Tumblr sites, fully dressed troops appear in photos with their name tags visible. Military officials briefed Congress on Thursday about the Marines United scandal, in which hundreds of active-duty Marines have viewed photos of servicewomen taken without their consent and cyberbullied some of them. Victims of so-called revenge porn in the Marines United case have limited protection under military law if the photographs or videos were taken originally with their consent. Similar to the Marines United case, it is unclear whether men appearing in the images - some photographed engaging in sex - provided consent to have their images shared publicly. Images of men in the uniforms of sailors, soldiers and airmen also appear on an array of Tumblr sites. The Marine Corps is not the only service affected. In the case of the sites with gay pornography, military investigators will be tasked with determining whether active-duty troops were involved in conduct that could bring discredit on their service, a potential violation of military law. The broadened investigation to an increasing number of websites underscores the complexity of policing social media sites where sensitive images can be uploaded in an instant for all to see.
WASHINGTON - The military scandal involving sharing of sexually explicit images of troops has expanded beyond the private social media site Marines United to a slew of gay pornography web pages with images of men wearing military uniforms engaged in sex acts, USA TODAY has learned.