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How does this happen? Like people on the forum get into some argument about the turn radius of some tank and how they shouldn’t have lost a game, and then it escalates until someone posts the tank specs so they can be right on the internet?
Yes. This is apparently so much of a problem that US and other nations include this in security training for military personnel and contractors. They literally teach you not to get in arguments online about weapons capabilities and whatnot because they know people are dumb enough to post classified info just so they can be like "ackshually..." on an internet forum.
From what I’ve seen it’s usually that Gaijin have something wrong about the vehicle and so people leak actual classified information because they want it to be corrected.
MilSim people can be an odd bunch sometimes
And the devs are like "Are you fucking dumb? We won't use classified info in our game."
Well if it’s something like a turn radius, they can always claim that they just guessed right.
Are they under any obligation to protect the classified information if they're not the ones who leaked it?
Knowingly owning or using classified info without proper clearance is, in fact, a crime.
That’s a large part of what Trump’s classified document raid was for. Former presidents usually have a lot of classified stuff to turn over after leaving office. It’s standard practice, (and perfectly legal) to simply send it back (via the proper channels) as soon as you discover you have it. But if you conceal it and refuse to return it (like Trump did) then that’ll land you in some hot water.
It's my understanding that you're only required to protect the information if you've actually agreed to do so, which is obviously a retirement for being given access. Elected officials are a weird area where they have a much easier time getting clearance, but they've still made agreements to protect the information.
Trump was authorized to handle classified information in the first place, which is why his mishandling was a problem. I haven't read the actual law, but I'm pretty sure ordinary people who happen across classified information have no duty at all in any direction. If you can show me an example of a random person getting in trouble for sharing classified information that they didn't steal or get others to steal, well, let me know.
So, hypothetically, you find a source who leaks data to you, then claim you were sent it anonymously, then all good, you're not the one who leaked it and the source is unknown. I slightly doubt that it works that way, but I don't have specific cases to prove it
No case exists that can't exist
Publishing classified info can get you espionage charges, just ask Julian Assange.
What hot water has it landed Trump in?
None, because Trump deployed an appropriately-speced Cannon as a countermeasure.
AFAIK it's part of being given some clearance. In most Western countries it's fine to republish already leaked material as a private citizen. How would the media do it otherwise?
No, his problem is that he was supposed to have access at some point wherein you agree to secure documents in certain ways. If you're given it or find it you do not have that duty. Defense secrets are much more protected but still not that much of you aren't supposed to have access.
No. You can publish it if you like. This is how journalists work. You cannot get someone to commit a crime towards getting classified documents (Assange tried to teach people to hack shit and pled guilty to this). But accepting them and publishing them is fine and good.
That is not what Assange plead guilty to whatsoever.
“He pleaded guilty to conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information relating to the national defense of the United States” - https://apnews.com/article/assange-wikileaks-plea-deal-39b72e6be6a775dae9b008728a46e595
yea, not to teaching people how to hack...
obtaining and disseminating classified information is called investigative journalism...
While they are, as stated by another commenter, I wonder if those documents count as working in intelligence and they have some External Security Colonel working on "moderation"
Unless...
Yea, I had a friend who spent his free time coding how different tarmac temperatures affect the wheels of a fighter plane in a flight sim. (DCS I think)
sometimes
One time it was a Chinese player pissed that their tank ammo wasn’t as strong as it should be so they posted it for the devs to buff
It's sometimes this, and it's sometimes Gaijin just claiming something is classified for whatever reason.
Sometimes, a British tank crewman posts technical specs from their manual for the Challenger 2. Sometimes, Gaijin claims that a declassified, internationally available manual for a Cold War era plane is classified. Or the Wikipedia article on a WW2 tank.
Yes. Supposedly it's so bad that Raytheon includes the question "Do you or have you ever played War Thunder?" in their interviews now. Tho take that with a huge grain of salt.
That and the game is popular among military and ex-military members.
IIRC the reporting fudges the definition of "classified" a bit too.