Moscow is preparing a bill to prevent Russian troops from posting selfies and other photographs on social media sites, according to July 29 reports.

The proposed legislation came after soldiers published images on social media sites with captions saying they had been firing artillery into Ukraine. “We shelled Ukraine all night long,” Russian soldier Vadim Grigoryev wrote beneath a picture of weaponry he published last week on Vkontakte, Russia’s most popular social media network.

The bill is authored by Vadim Solovyov, the head of the Communist Party’s legal service. Solovyov says that when posts like Grigoryev’s are open to the public, sensitive military information can be used by the Western media “for purposes of provocation.” This harms the country’s military security, according to Solovyov.

Grigoryev’s post garnered much attention among users and media alike until his account was suddenly deleted. He appeared on the evening news the next day saying his account had been hacked, and that he was unsure as to where the photos may have originated. The post can still be viewed on at least one other Vkontakte user’s account, though, as it was reposted before being deleted. It was also copied to numerous Twitter posts, such as this one:

https://twitter.com/myroslavapetsa/status/492055564789506048

The Russia-based site TJournal.ru has published a collection of posts reported to be from Russian troops showing evidence of Russian military activities at the Ukraine border. You can see the roundup here.

Tetyana Lokot, a researcher at the University of Maryland specializing in digital media in post-Soviet nations, discussed the proposed ban on July 31. “It’s probable,” she said, “that more of these young Russian soldiers, eager to catalog their adventures on the Ukrainian border, will be discovered, go viral, and find it necessary to delete their accounts.” If any of the posts are proven genuine, she says, “the [Russian Internet] will have unearthed hard evidence of a Russian attack on Ukrainian territory. Will every new soldier foolish enough to have posted about ‘shelling the enemy’ turn to a ‘my-account-was-hacked’ defense? Will others be able to stay their hand from taking that treacherous geo-located selfie?”

Clamping down on media, social or otherwise, is nothing new for Vladimir Putin’s Russia. For more, check out, “‘Putin II’ Tightens Grip on Russian Media.”