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The EFF, a coalition of lawyers to defend digital rights, says that there is evidence that the Army Web Risk Assessment Cell (AWRAC) reviews hundreds of thousands of websites every month, notifying webmasters and bloggers when it sees information it deems inappropriate.

As a result, some bloggers have reported that they have cut back on their posts or shut down their sites altogether because of the activities of the AWRAC.

EFF

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filed its suit after the Department of Defense failed to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests about the blog monitoring program.

'Soldiers should be free to blog their thoughts at this critical point in the national debate on the war in Iraq,' said EFF staff attorney Marcia Hofmann. 'If the Army is colouring or curtailing soldiers' published opinions, Americans need to know about that interference.'

The EFF has requested records on how the AWRAC conducts its monitoring, as well as any orders to soldiers about revision or deletion of Web posts.

'Of course, a military effort requires some level of secrecy,' Hofmann said. 'But the public has a right to know if the Army is silencing soldiers' opinions as well. That's why the Department of Defense must release information on how this program works without delay.'

The EFF lawsuit can be read at eff.org/flag/awrac/awrac_complaint.pdf.