A player of the popular online military simulator War Thunder has been banned from the game’s official forums after sharing a page from a restricted AV-8B Harrier flight manual.
War Thunder, developed by Gaijin Entertainment, is a free-to-play combat simulation game featuring air, land, and naval warfare from multiple eras.
War Thunder’s community manager confirmed the document breached the forum’s rules and was removed immediately.
But that doesn’t change the fact that if it’s marked as controlled or restricted, platforms like War Thunder have no choice but to take action.”.
The confusion comes from the fact that the AV-8B Harrier manual posted on the War Thunder forum isn’t marked “Classified” in the top-secret or confidential sense, but it is still legally restricted.
But the legal status of the document doesn’t change just because it’s been leaked or appears on a file-sharing site.
The label “Distribution Statement C” still carries legal weight under U.S. export control laws like ITAR, and platforms like War Thunder are obligated to enforce those restrictions. »