Apparently they have according to this wired article:

“The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer, Wired News has learned. The directive, issued April 19, is the sharpest restriction on troops’ online activities since the start of the Iraq war. And it could mean the end of military blogs, observers say.

Military officials have been wrestling for years with how to handle troops who publish blogs. Officers have weighed the need for wartime discretion against the opportunities for the public to personally connect with some of the most effective advocates for the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq — the troops themselves. The secret-keepers have generally won the argument, and the once-permissive atmosphere has slowly grown more tightly regulated. Soldier-bloggers have dropped offline as a result.
The new rules (.pdf) obtained by Wired News require a commander be consulted before every blog update.

“This is the final nail in the coffin for combat blogging,” said retired paratrooper Matthew Burden, editor of The Blog of War anthology. “No more military bloggers writing about their experiences in the combat zone. This is the best PR the military has — it’s most honest voice out of the war zone. And it’s being silenced.”

Army Regulation 530–1: Operations Security (OPSEC) restricts more than just blogs, however. Previous editions of the rules asked Army personnel to “consult with their immediate supervisor” before posting a document “that might contain sensitive and/or critical information in a public forum.” The new version, in contrast, requires “an OPSEC review prior to publishing” anything — from “web log (blog) postings” to comments on internet message boards, from resumes to letters home.
Failure to do so, the document adds, could result in a court-martial, or “administrative, disciplinary, contractual, or criminal action.”

Here is an interview up with Major Ray Ceralde, the author of the reg.

My take is suprising, for while I enjoy the miliblogs and the invaluable information they give, the simple fact is that soldiers do not have exactly the same free speech rights that we civilians enjoy. Additionally the Army no doubt vetted the impact of such restrictions before implementing them, eg; moral vs OPSEC. In fact, I personally know they did.

We all know that in the current hitech age keeping information secure during a war is a challenge. No doubt with thousands of emails going back and forth from the battlefield, along with blogging from actual battlefield locations, the G2 (intel) types were most likely more than a little twitchy.

However, no commander in the field is going to be bothered with checking blog posts, so this might just have killed that component, yet there appears to be room for loopholes according to Maj Celrade:

“The regulation says that a Soldier or other U.S. Army personnel must consult with their immediate supervisor and OPSEC officer prior to posting information in a public forum. However, this is where unit commander or organization leadership specifies in orders, policies, or directives how this will be done. Some units may require that Soldiers register their blog with the unit for identification purposes with occasional spot checks after an initial review. Other units may require a review before every posting. A private e-mail message to Family Members is not considered posting information in a public forum, but U.S. Army personnel are informed that unclassified e-mails can be intercepted and that they shouldn‚Äôt write anything that they wouldn‚Äôt say on an unsecure phone. While it is not practical to check all communication, especially private communication, the U.S. Army trusts that Soldiers and U.S. Army personnel will do the right things to maintain proper security when they understand their role in it.

I’m sure this won’t be the last word on the subject. Some bloggers like Michelle Malkin have posted info on writing your congressman and other government officials, but I would suggest you not do that. We’ve got too many politicians running this war from the get go - that’s part of the problem - let them get it figured out.

Update: Capt Ed has a post up on it, but again I have to play the Devil on this one, the lack of evidence for any leaks of operational information isn’t the point behind this revision (I might add) of an existing regulation. As a former G2 type, I will admit the whole idea of hundreds of soldier reporters blogging from foxholes and in sensitive areas made me more than blink twice. Also I must again reiterate, soldiers do not share the same rights of free speech as civilians and there are a myriad of reasons for that. On the other hand they have - as the Cpt said - be phenomenally supportive of the mission in Iraq and the last thing we want to do is to call into question their motives or take away anything that helps them cope and enjoy some of the fruits of their sacrifice. It’s a hard question, but again, I trust our military leaders to to a look at the situation and get a handle on it. But for the sake of ham don’t get these politicians involved, let the soldiers police themselves.