During a July 8th Army stream, Uhl typed into the channel’s chat, “what’s your favorite u.s. w4r cr1me?” and linked to a Wikipedia page listing war crimes by the US military. The Army promptly banned Uhl from the channel. A video of the interaction has surfaced on Twitter.

The Knight First Amendment Institute responded Wednesday by sending the Army and Navy a letter condemning Uhl’s ban as a violation of the right to free speech. “When the government intentionally opens a space to the public at large for expressive activity, it has created a ‘public forum’ under the First Amendment, and it cannot constitutionally bar speakers from that forum based on viewpoint,” the letter said.

An Army spokesperson told GameSpot “the team has paused streaming to review internal policies and procedures, as well as all platform-specific policies, to ensure those participating in the space are clear before streaming resumes.” Army spokeswoman Kelli Bland said users are banned from the channel when they violate Twitch’s terms of service, and said Uhl was banned for harassment. A Twitch spokeswoman didn’t comment on Uhl’s ban, but pointed to Twitch’s policy which states “channel owners and moderators are free to ban anyone from their channel, regardless of the reason.”

The Army’s Twitch channel has also drawn criticism for advertising a “giveaway” for an Xbox controller, only for a link on the ad to lead to a recruiting form. Twitch responded by telling the Army to cut out the fake giveaways. Still, some say Twitch is an inappropriate place for the military to fish for potential recruits. Ocasio-Cortez’s says as much with her planned amendment to an appropriations bill.

“It’s incredibly irresponsible for the Army and the Navy to be recruiting impressionable young people and children via live streaming platforms,” Ocasio-Cortez told Vice. “War is not a game, and the Marine Corps’ decision not to engage in this recruiting tool should be a clear signal to the other branches of the military to cease this practice entirely.”

In a statement, Schumer said, “These videos sure do make you chuckle; they’re creative. But China might be laughing at these TSA postings for very different reasons, and that should concern us and it’s why I am urging the TSA to find a different platform, and cease its use of TikTok now.” On Sunday, the TSA said that a “small number of TSA employees have previously used TikTok on their personal devices to create videos for use in TSA’s social media outreach, but that practice has since been discontinued.”

The move follows similar decisions by other government organizations concerned about security threats associated with the app. Back in October 2019, senators began questioning the use of the app in government capacities, stating that “TikTok is a potential counterintelligence threat we cannot ignore.”

Since then, the US Army, Marines, Navy, and subsequently the Air Force and Coast Guard have all confirmed hard line restrictions on the app. TikTok’s parent company ByteDance hasn’t commented on any of these decisions individually, but maintains that “TikTok is committed to being a trusted and responsible corporate citizen in the US, which includes working with Congress and all relevant regulatory agencies.”

There’s little doubt as to why TikTok might face restrictions, though. US politicians remain concerned about TikTok’s Chinese ownership and the potential for the app to serve as a conduit for Chinese government plans. There’s no evidence that TikTok is siphoning personal info, but that might not matter to jittery officials. As it stands, there are also worries that China may be shaping TikTok’s message, even for American users. Critics are concerned that TikTok could be a recruiting tool, or else sanitize the atrocities and other forms of oppression in China.

The US Army recently told cadets not to use TikTok.

ByteDance hasn’t commented on the ban. It previously said that TikTok’s US operations are separate from China and has denied serving on the government’s behalf. That stance won’t assuage the Navy, though, and it looks like the Navy’s rank and file will have to use personal phones if they’re going to use TikTok at all.

The switch will affect all DDG-51 class (Arleigh Burke) ships using the Integrated Bridge and Navigation System. You should see the first change in summer 2020. The first in-service ship to make the leap will be the USS Ramage, while the first brand new destroyer to drop touchscreens will be the USS Ted Stevens.

The decision isn’t so much a flat-out rejection of technology as an acknowledgment that it has to make sense and be easy to use. Program Executive Officer for Ships Rear Admiral Bill Galinis noted that the feedback slotted into the “just because you can doesn’t mean you should” mindset. The Navy adopted touchscreens without considering that the system was “overly complex,” and that there should be “bridge commonality” to help sailors adjust if they’re transferred to another ship.

This isn’t to say the Navy is giving up on bridge touchscreens altogether. However, Navy chief engineer Rear Admiral Lorin Selby noted that any interface needed to be consistent and help crews “quickly pick up” on a given situation. Warships need to be intuitive to operate — the consequences are serious if they aren’t.

The Defense Department hasn’t officially said what it used against the drone, but MADIS was present aboard the Boxer at the time. You can see it on top of the tan vehicle in the photo above.

The incident illustrates the rapidly changing nature of warfare. Increasingly, the US is finding ways to take action against military targets without firing a shot — it reportedly used a cyberattack to disable Iranian missile control systems in June. These theoretically avoid sparking fiercer conflicts. The question, as you might imagine, is whether or not this will avoid prompting escalations that could include conventional military responses. While Iran hasn’t launched full-scale counterattacks of its own at this stage (its seizure of ships isn’t a straightforward response), there are concerns that these ‘softer’ methods could still prompt fiercer reactions in certain circumstances.