CIA Contractor Fired For Blogging

Christine Axsmith, CIA software contractor, was fired this week after she posted her views on the Geneva Conventions and torture at a blog site only accessible to those with a top-secret clearance.

She had been employed by BAE Systems, a prominent defense contractor, to test software performance at the CIA.

On July 13, under her usual alias of “Covert Communications,” she posted an entry called “Waterboarding is Torture and Torture is Wrong” to Intelink, the intelligence community’s classified intranet. She mentioned in the entry that she had had “the sad occasion to read interrogation transcripts in an assignment that should not be made public,” and that’s reportedly what set off upper management at the CIA, BAE Systems told her.

In an interview with the Post, Axmith, 42, described herself as an “opinionated loudmouth with a knack for writing a catchy headline.” She said she apologized immediately for the posting and expected a scolding or withdrawal of her blogging privileges–but never imagined she’d lose her job.

A CIA spokesman reached by the Post declined to comment directly on Axmith’s case. He said the general policy for blogs is that “postings should relate directly to the official business of the author and readers of the site…CIA expects contractors to do the work they are paid to do.”

via Link

Getting fired for blogging has become such a common theme these days that you would expect people to be more careful. Christine, a self-described “opinionated loudmouth”, clearly didn’t realize she was overstepping her boundaries. I think CIA overreacted but then so does most big corporations in such situations.