U.S. Senators grilled the Navy and the Marine Corps’ top leaders on Tuesday amid a growing scandal involving a private Facebook group and its surreptitious distribution of explicit images of women in the armed forces — often with obscene, misogynist commentary.
“If we can’t crack Facebook, how are we supposed to be able to confront Russian aggression and cyber hacking throughout our military” Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand asked during a Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) had started an investigation into the group, where explicit photos of female Marines and service members were being shared without the photographed person’s consent. The group, called “Marine’s United,” had a link to a Google Drive folder containing the photos, which has since been removed. The group served as a community of current and former Marines requesting and submitting photos unbeknownst to the women in them. At this point, it is not known how many current or former service members were involved.
