The Marine Corps will issue new policy on Tuesday to educate its members on acceptable use of social media in the wake of the Marines United nude photo scandal, the service’s top general told the Senate.
Gen. Robert Neller, the commandant of the Marine Corps, said past scandals led the service to focus heavily on sexual assault prevention and response efforts, but that it had never specifically addressed proper behavior online.
But the Marines United Facebook scandal, which saw about 30,000 users posting or viewing nude or inappropriate photos of female Marines in a private Facebook group without consent, is forcing the service to update its social media policy to make it clearer that actions like this can be punished under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
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Neller, who testified at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the investigation, said the policy is being updated to focus specifically on online behavior like those in the Marines United scandal, saying that they are unacceptable, not part of being a Marine and are punishable by military law. The old policy did say similar things, but “not as directly,” Neller said.
The commandant also stressed that it will take work on the part of Marine Corps leadership to “sell it” and educate commanders and senior enlisted service members on how to hold people accountable. Neller plans to begin that Wednesday with a trip to Camp Lejeune, N.C.
“I think the biggest issue is within the culture, we haven’t addressed the fact within Marines that all Marines are Marines,” Neller said. “I think we can fix that.”
But some lawmakers said the law already says actions such as this are illegal, and that it hasn’t stopped scandals like this from arising. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., slammed the panel of top Navy and Marine Corps leaders, saying that it’s not clear anyone has been held accountable for Marines United and that the service has faced these cultural problems that denigrate women since at least 2013.
“When you say to us, it has to be different, that rings hollow,” Gillibrand said. “I am very concerned that this is part of a culture that is resulting in the high levels of sexual assault.”
Neller also asked more Marines to come forward to help with the investigation, which is being led by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. While he promised the service would not seek retribution against those who do work with investigators, he acknowledged that he could not protect people on social media.
The whistleblower who first raised the issue has reportedly faced death threats online, and his wife has faced threats of sexual assault.
Sean Stackley, the acting Navy secretary, said that a tip line set up for the investigation has received 53 calls since being set up.
