Miltiary's explanation of blocking casualty sites

Mr Umansky: The sites you mention are not official DoD sites. Both these sites involve casualty reports and Defense Link is the official source for casualty reports. It is important to ensure information that is distributed is accurate especially when it involves casualties.

If a web site is not an official DoD web site or if it is not required to perform official government functions it can be blocked. In this case, it is important to ensure consistency and accuracy when dealing with causalities.

If a servicemember believes a site is required to perform their officials duties then that individual can use his chain of command to justify why access to such as site is required.

The Armed Forces takes great care to ensure whenever there is a casualty the family receives the information first. Non-DoD sites reporting casualty figures can lead to inaccurate information being distributed.


Capt Chris Karns
Media Officer
United States Central Command