- Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old Air Force soldier, has been accused of leaking US intelligence documents on Discord.
- The US military uses Discord to recruit young people who are passionate about video games.
- SOCOM previously had to warn military personnel about posting sensitive information on the app.
A member of a closed Discord server, where hundreds of US intelligence documents about the war in Ukraine are shared, said the suspected leaker wanted to show off rather than perform his official duties. According to Associated Press.
Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old junior-rank U.S. National Guard member, was arrested Thursday in connection with the leak of classified U.S. Department of Defense documents. The Washington Post reported The document was posted to a private Discord community or “server” named Thug Shaker Central. This group is mostly young men and his 20s to his 30s in their teens. According to the New York Times.
According to the postthe name Thug Shaker Central is a racist connotation and was created as a space for members to share their love of video games, guns and racist memes.
Some Republicans — Most Visible Congressman Marjorie Taylor Green — hailed Teixeira as a national hero, but members of Thug Shaker Central said otherwise.
Anonymous former member of Thug Shaker Central told the post Teixeira shared the document to gain influence in his online community known as “OG”
“If I had to rate it, it would be more or less a geek who just wants to skim a few things, compare and contrast, and make a little joke about it,” said an unidentified Discord server. The member also told AP.. “At the end of the day, we’re just trying to have a good time.” It’s unclear if AP spoke to the same individual as Post.
Since its founding in 2015, Discord has grown to approximately 150 million monthly active users, According to data analysis site StatistaThe platform is aimed at young gamers who use their Discord server to share gameplay clips and stream popular video games such as Valorant, Minecraft, Fortnite and the battle royale shooter Apex Legends themselves. Especially popular among
Gamer fascination has made Discord an important tool for the U.S. military, as well as an online community and video gamesFor example, a US Army server dedicated to esports teams was first reported by posthave 17,000+ users.
“As the esports industry continues to grow exponentially, nearly every branch of the military has an official service-sanctioned gaming program.” According to a 2022 news release from the Department of Defense“For some of these service members, that actually means playing video games is their job.”
However, its reliance on digital platforms means the US military will also have to pay attention to dealing with an ever-growing online population. In particular, apps such as Discord allow you to set your server to private so that users feel more comfortable discussing sensitive topics.
In March, the U.S. Special Operations Command had to warn military personnel in a guide not to “post anything on Discord that you don’t want the general public to see.”
“It may be a private server, but conversations and photos/videos can be captured in screenshots or recorded and leaked,” said the guide, first reported and shared in the post. .
This guide warns against establishing connections with users or servers that you “do not know or trust”.
Dan Meyer, an attorney with over 20 years of experience in federal employment law and national security law, said: told AP Social media and video games have long been national security concerns.
“The social media world and gaming sites in particular have been identified as counterintelligence concerns for about a decade,” he told the AP, noting that foreign intelligence agencies have hidden their identities behind online avatars and used, for example, I pointed out how to connect with young military personnel and others.Games at Norfolk Naval Station Recreation Center.
Discord and a Pentagon spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.