We regret to inform you that the War Thunder community has been at it again. And by ‘it’, we mean using sensitive military documents to win forum squabbles.
As spotted by MMOFallout on the game’s official subreddit, a War Thunder player engaged in an argument on the game’s official forums has produced military documents on the F-16 fighter jet to buttress their case. Though the United States military has declassified the documents themselves, the sharing of the information within those documents is still considered a no-no under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (or ITAR), a law enforced by the US State Department. ITAR places limits on “the disclosure and transmission of US weapons data and information to foreign individuals”, which (believe it or not) includes putting it on the internet to win a video game flame war.
How the forum user got hold of these documents is unknown. Rather than explain that, he attempted to argue that his post did not violate any of the forum rules, which is true. While not specifically against the rules of the War Thunder fan forums, it is, nevertheless, a felony.
If you can believe it, this is the fourth time a War Thunder forum user has produced sensitive military documents in an attempt to settle an argument. For it to happen once is wild. Twice would be insane. But, four times?
If nothing else, MMO communities can always be relied upon to deliver the most incredible drama. Games like War Thunder and EVE Online generate truly gobsmacking community stories, and I cannot get enough.
Anyway, it has been zero days since the War Thunder community leaked sensitive military documentation into a public forum. See you again for Round Five in six months or so.
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