All branches of the US Military are now investigating nude photo sharing on social media

Last week, Marine veteran Thomas Brennan published a report through The Center for Investigative Reporting that revealed the existence of a secret Facebook group used by Marines to share naked pictures of service women. Now, the Marine Corps investigation into the group and its members has expanded to encompass all of the other branches of the US military, according to Business Insider.

Brennan’s report set off an investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) into hundreds of Marines. According to Colonel Patrick Seiber, a spokesman for the US Army, agents from the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command (ACIC) “are currently assessing information and photographs on a civilian website that appear to include US Army personnel.” Seiber also confirmed that the Army is coordinating with NCIS and the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigation. 

Earlier this week, Business Insider published a new report that revealed that the scandal reached beyond the Marine Corps and the Marines United Facebook group. Another internet forum, Anon-IB, hosted numerous discussions posting and soliciting explicit images, as well as links to a Dropbox folder containing the images of naked service women. The article also noted that Brennan’s original report prompted a mass exodus from the Marines United group to Anon-IB. 

Yesterday, Marine Commandant General Robert Neller noted that nobody has been charged yet, but that the investigation was ongoing, according to NPR. The Department of Defense also released a statement from Defense Secretary James Mattis on Friday slamming the alleged actions of service members, saying that they represented “egregious violations of the fundamental values we uphold at the Department of Defense,” and noted that the military is taking “all appropriate action to investigate potential misconduct.”

The article was published on : theverge