New directive from Army leadership centralizes and restricts social media accounts
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll issued a new directive that will shut down many unit-level social media accounts across the force.
The subject line of a memorandum from Driscoll, dated June 30 and publicly released July 8, said the move is aimed at “Optimizing Digital Media.”
The policy “consolidates thousands of localized unit pages into a focused network of authorized accounts to ensure a clear, unified voice, reduce operational risk, and improve information access for Soldiers, Families and the public,” officials wrote in a press release published Wednesday.
Authorized accounts for the service’s official social media operations are now restricted to organizations like Headquarters Department of the Army enterprise, commands, direct reporting units, Reserve components, designated warfighting formations (service component commands, corps, divisions, special operations), designated installations, U.S Army Corps of Engineers and Accessions Command. An enclosure attached to Driscoll’s memo includes a full list of Army organizations authorized to conduct those activities.
“To ensure the well-being of our Soldiers, Families, and Department of the Army (DA) Civilians, the authorized Army installations listed in [the enclosure] may have one set of social media accounts under the purview of the senior commander (such as one Facebook, one Instagram, and one X account per installation). These accounts have the dedicated purpose of disseminating timely, factual information about the senior commander’s mission and updates, such as changes to installation services, operating hours, and public safety alerts. Installation Army Community Service (ACS) and Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) offices are not authorized separate accounts and will provide content to the installation sites,” Driscoll wrote in his directive.
Under the new policy, commanders across the service must archive records and deactivate unauthorized organizational accounts within 30 days of Driscoll’s edict.
On Tuesday, the X account for the 780th Military Intelligence Brigade (Cyber), which had more than 35,000 followers, posted that effective immediately, “the 780th Military Intelligence Brigade (Cyber) is not an Army organization authorized to manage an official social media account and is directed to close and archive all brigade accounts pursuant to the Army records management policy.”
The unit is a Major Subordinate Command under Army Intelligence and Security Command, also serving under the operational control of Army Cyber Command, it noted. “You are invited to subscribe to their social media pages,” officials wrote in the post. “The Brigade is waiting on further instructions; however, it has been a privilege to be in this space,” they added.
An Army press release stated that Driscoll’s directive does not apply to troops’ personal social media accounts.
The policy “does not prohibit individual Soldiers from maintaining personal social media profiles in accordance with existing Department of War ethics and operational security regulations,” per the press release, which used the Trump administration’s preferred name for the Department of Defense.
Driscoll wrote in his memo that requests for an exception to the new policy must demonstrate “a mission-critical imperative unmet by existing accounts or other means of communication (such as website post, email, or direct engagement).”
The deputy undersecretary of the Army has been designated as the approval authority for all such requests.
The Army’s press release stated that the new policy aims to improve support for military families by “cutting through the digital clutter.”
“Rather than forcing audiences to navigate a complex, fragmented web of subordinate unit pages, families will now rely on primary installation and division accounts. This creates a reliable ‘one-stop shop’ for community updates, base services and critical support programs, such as Army Community Service and Morale, Welfare, and Recreation,” officials wrote.
Despite the widespread social media account closures across the force, the press release stated that the Army “remains steadfastly committed to public transparency and storytelling.”
“While smaller, unauthorized unit pages will be closed, public affairs professionals and content creators at the tactical level will continue to document military training and operations. That high-quality imagery and video will now be elevated to higher-echelon accounts and hosted on official Department of War platforms, such as the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service and Army.mil, ensuring those stories reach a significantly larger audience,” officials wrote.
