Pentagon official tamps down rumors of possible new media ban

Price Floyd, the Pentagon’s social media point man, sought to throw water on the fire created by a report that the military is considering a ban on social media.

The U.S. Strategic Command two weeks ago issued a “warning order” suggesting that the military may ban access to social networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, due to security concerns.

Floyd said that the Department of Defense had not made a final decision on the ban. “An analysis… is being conducted,” he told Wired.com.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates Floyd had hired Floyd, whose official title is Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, to employ social networking and new media in order to open lines of communication between the department and the public. Floyd’s mission would obviously be in jeopardy should the department enact the ban.

Floyd operates a Twitter account himself as does Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen.