The US Defence Department blocks internet access for all members of the military to websites that publish illegally leaked material, an official confirmed Friday. Colonel Damien Pickart, press officer for the secretary of defence, said the filter was now in place on the 7 million computers used by the military.
It blocks stories such as those published in Britain's Guardian newspaper and The Washington Post that have been citing classified information leaked by Edward Snowden.
"Should any website post material the Department of Defence still considers classified, then the material is blocked," Pickart told dpa.
Pickart added in a statement that the policy applies only to the military's computer system. The department is "not going to block websites from the American public in general," as that would violate "our highest held principle" of defending the US constitution and respecting civil liberties, he wrote.