The White House urged social media companies to prevent the circulation of information that could hurt national security as it works to clean up an intelligence leak that exposed US spy assessments on Ukraine’s defenses and other sensitive topics.
(Bloomberg) — The White House urged social media companies to prevent the circulation of information that could hurt national security as it works to clean up an intelligence leak that exposed US spy assessments on Ukraine’s defenses and other sensitive topics.
“We do believe that social media companies have a responsibility to their users, and to the country, to manage the private-sector infrastructure that they create and now operate,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday during a press briefing in Dublin during President Joe Biden’s trip in Ireland.
Highly classified military documents, written in February and March, have appeared on social media sites in recent weeks revealing US assessments on the Russian war in Ukraine, as well as US intelligence gathering on allies, including Egypt, South Korea and Israel.
The leak has triggered investigations by the departments of Justice and Defense, and raised worldwide concerns about US handling of classified materials.
“We are certainly reviewing the national security implications of the disclosure and the mitigation of the impact release of these documents could have on US national security and also our partners and allies,” Jean-Pierre said.
The Washington Post reported that the man who allegedly shared the documents on Discord, a website popular with gamers, was part of an invitation-only group with a mutual interest in guns, military gear and God. He was referred to by his friends as “OG” and according to the report indicated to friends that he worked on a military base.
Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the Post’s reporting, but said Defense officials are working to tighten access to classified documents.
“These slides contained sensitive information. We are aware of that,” she said.
Discord said Wednesday it was working with US law enforcement officials probing the leak.
The disclosure of the leaked documents has created a diplomatic headache for the Biden administration as the president visits Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak did not discuss the breach when they met for tea in Belfast on Wednesday, Jean-Pierre said. “It did not come up, the leaks, the leaked document, in that conversation,” she said.
But high-level UK and US officials have discussed it recently, Biden administration officials said.
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