A proposal in the new national defense bill would extend laws protecting secret agents to military troops in sensitive units. This could criminalize publicizing the identities of special operations troops under the same laws that protect intelligence agents.
The proposal, included in the House version of the annual defense bill, expands the Intelligence Identities Protection Act to cover service members in sensitive units and civilians who train special operations forces.
Critics argue that the law could be used to suppress reporting in the public interest, such as exposing war crimes. The proposal was inspired by a social media post that identified the commander of Delta Force after a military raid. The House and Senate will need to negotiate on a final version of the bill before voting on the law.
