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    Israel's military warns citizens against posting tweets, Instagram photos of Hamas strike zones

    Israel's military warns citizens against posting tweets, Instagram photos of Hamas strike zones

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    Israel rocket strike credit: The Israel Project
    Israel rocket strike credit: The Israel Project

    The people of Israel are sadly not unfamiliar with violence. Like their government, these days many have sought to establish a presence on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social sites to share their account of all that's happening around them. But Israel's military is asking citizens to cut back on their journalistic efforts for fear that geolocation data publicly accessible across these services is aiding Hamas plot out future targets. Per Fast Company, the theory is that realtime reports of where a rocket has landed (or where sirens can be heard) could assist Hamas in honing the aim of their rocket strikes. Further, the embedded location data from an Instagram photo or tweet could theoretically be used to triangulate attacks to ensure the largest number of civilian casualties.

    Obviously maintaining a record of these events is important, and it remains up to individual Israelis whether they choose to follow the IDF's suggestions: there are no legal restrictions against documenting such acts. But at the very least, it may not be a bad idea to disable location data for such public-facing content.