A 63-year-old retired US Army Colonel David Franklin Slater, formerly employed by US Strategic Command (Stratcom) until 2022, has been charged with unlawfully sharing classified information via a foreign dating website. Stratcom oversees the US nuclear missile arsenal.

Slater was&nbsp;arrested on Saturday (March 2).

He is set to appear in court on Tuesday (March 5)&nbsp;to face charges of illegally transmitting documents that authorities claim "could be used to the injury of the United States".

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/jack-teixeira-accused-pentagon-leaker-pleads-guilty-faces-over-16-years-jail-696580">Pentagon documents leak accused Jack Teixeira pleads guilty, faces over 16 years’ jail</a>

According to the documents, Slater allegedly shared insights from classified Stratcom briefings concerning Russian offensive in Ukraine with an individual he believed to be a woman residing in Ukraine.

The prosecution contends that Slater was frequently questioned in message exchanges about confidential US national defence secrets.

Also watch |&nbsp;Gravitas: Who is Jack Teixeira? | 21-year-old arrested in US intel leaks probe

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In one message dated March 11, the contact inquired, "Dear, what is shown on the screens in the special room?? It is very interesting."

Later, on March 23, the same contact referred to Slater as "my secret agent" after requesting information about a specific country, the details of which have been redacted in the published documents.

Messages such as "My sweet Dave, thanks for the valuable information," and "you are my secret informant love!" were allegedly exchanged in subsequent communications.

<h2>What does it mean?</h2>

The documents do not specify the identity of the person Slater was in contact with or the name of the foreign dating website involved. However, the FBI and Air Force Office of Special Investigations have conducted the investigation.

US Attorney Susan Lehr for the District of Nebraska said in a statement: "Certain responsibilities are incumbent to individuals with access to Top Secret information," raising concerns about whether Slater betrayed these responsibilities.

The retired colonel faces charges of conspiracy and two counts of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information, potentially resulting in a prison term of up to 10 years if found guilty.

The case coincides with another incident&nbsp;where a US airman from the Massachusetts Air National Guard, Jack Teixeira, pleaded guilty to six counts of illegally retaining and transmitting US defence information.

Teixeira could face up to 16 years in prison. 
 
(With inputs from agencies)

A 63-year-old retired US Army Colonel David Franklin Slater, formerly employed by US Strategic Command (Stratcom) until 2022, has been charged with unlawfully sharing classified information via a foreign dating website.

A 63-year-old retired US Army Colonel David Franklin Slater, formerly employed by US Strategic Command (Stratcom) until 2022, has been charged with unlawfully sharing classified information via a foreign dating website. Stratcom oversees the US nuclear missile arsenal. Slater was arrested on Saturday (March 2). He is set to appear in court on Tuesday (March 5) to face charges of illegally transmitting documents that authorities claim "could be used to the injury of the United States". Also read | Pentagon documents leak accused Jack Teixeira pleads guilty, faces over 16 years’ jail According to the documents, Slater allegedly shared insights from classified Stratcom briefings concerning Russian offensive in Ukraine with an individual he believed to be a woman residing in Ukraine. The prosecution contends that Slater was frequently questioned in message exchanges about confidential US national defence secrets. Also watch | Gravitas: Who is Jack Teixeira? | 21-year-old arrested in US intel leaks probe × In one message dated March 11, the contact inquired, "Dear, what is shown on the screens in the special room?? It is very interesting." Later, on March 23, the same contact referred to Slater as "my secret agent" after requesting information about a specific country, the details of which have been redacted in the published documents. Messages such as "My sweet Dave, thanks for the valuable information," and "you are my secret informant love!" were allegedly exchanged in subsequent communications. What does it mean? The documents do not specify the identity of the person Slater was in contact with or the name of the foreign dating website involved. However, the FBI and Air Force Office of Special Investigations have conducted the investigation. US Attorney Susan Lehr for the District of Nebraska said in a statement: "Certain responsibilities are incumbent to individuals with access to Top Secret information," raising concerns about whether Slater betrayed these responsibilities. The retired colonel faces charges of conspiracy and two counts of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information, potentially resulting in a prison term of up to 10 years if found guilty. The case coincides with another incident where a US airman from the Massachusetts Air National Guard, Jack Teixeira, pleaded guilty to six counts of illegally retaining and transmitting US defence information. Teixeira could face up to 16 years in prison. (With inputs from agencies)

'My secret agent': US Army veteran spills defence secrets on dating site

In a private dating group on Facebook, Renee flaunts herself to like-minded singles as a fit, adventurous Kizomba dancer who at 35 exudes "inner child vibes." But her main draw?

In a private dating group on Facebook, Renee flaunts herself to like-minded singles as a fit, adventurous Kizomba dancer who at 35 exudes "inner child vibes." But her main draw? She is unvaccinated. The Covid-19 pandemic may have receded, but dating apps, websites and social media groups still offer to unite vaccine-hating singles who believe debunked falsehoods such as that coronavirus jabs alter DNA or cause infertility. The trend underscores how anti-vaccine sentiment has become an entrenched identity for many who willfully resist or ignore scientific assertions that inoculations saved tens of millions of lives globally when the pandemic was raging. A prospective match's vaccination status determines compatibility not just for Renee, a self-employed Australian, but for many posting in "unvaxed singles" groups that have cropped up on Facebook. Dating decisions there are driven by chemistry but not science. In one closed group breached by AFP, many listed "no jabbies" as their top dating criteria, while others cheered anti-vaccine advocates as "pure blood freedom fighters." One meme popular in the group described their ideal partner: "She's curvy, funny, intelligent, unvaccinated." It demonstrates how the pandemic turned rejecting vaccines from a personal health decision to the way "people express their personal brand," said Timothy Caulfield, a professor at the University of Alberta in Canada. "It shows how high the walls of their echo chambers are. Being anti-vaccine has become an ideological flag -- a way to demonstrate which team you belong to," Caulfield told AFP. "It is less and less about science and more and more about the values being antivax signal." 'Swipe left' According to a 2022 survey by the Pew Research Center, about half of US adults who used a dating site or app said it was important to see the vaccination status on profiles. "Why is your vaccination status such a big deal? I've even seen it listed as a 'dealbreaker' on some profiles," said a post in a dating discussion group on the online messaging board Reddit. "The profiles I see most state the following: 'if you're vaccinated then please swipe left.'" Some comments in the group referred to vaccinated singles as people carrying "biological weapons," an apparent reference to the debunked claim the vaccinated spread "super strain" variants. Vaccine falsehoods often overlap with other types of misinformation, introducing believers to those espousing the QAnon conspiracy theory and anti-LGBTQ narratives. "Studies have consistently shown that if a person is anti-vaccine – or unvaccinated – you can make a strong guess about that person's positions on a host of other issues," Caulfield said. Spreading falsehoods can also be profitable. The Florida-based Wellness Company sells a detoxification supplement that it claims counteracts the harmful effects of coronavirus jabs, destroying spike proteins to get back "that pre-Covid feeling." But experts and public health authorities told AFP's fact-checkers there is no evidence the nearly $65 supplement does that. The same company also backs a dating website for unvaccinated people called Unjected. Before being accepted, its members are required to have their "vaccination status certified by a medical professional," according to the website. In 2021, US media reported the Unjected app, dubbed as the "Tinder for anti-vaxers," was removed from Apple's App Store over Covid-19 misinformation. A slew of similar apps for unvaccinated singles are available on the Google Play Store. One such platform is called Unjabbed, whose user reviews expressed concern about bugs and phone hacking attempts after the app was downloaded. 'Tall, dark, handsome' At the height of the pandemic in 2021, conventional online dating platforms including Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid sought to boost vaccinations. As part of a White House-backed effort, many platforms allowed users to create badges displaying vaccination status, with OkCupid calling the inoculated the "new tall, dark and handsome." Users who were vaccinated or planned to be saw a spike in matches and engagement, OkCupid said in a blog, adding the "vaccine is really helping people find love." But any future inoculation drive could be jeopardized by anti-vaccine sentiment, which appears resilient even as the pandemic ebbs and travel restrictions are lifted around the world. The allure of finding an unvaccinated partner is reinforced by false social media posts sharing unfounded fears that vaccines can be "shed" or passed onto people through body fluids, threatening fertility. "The only real utility a dating platform like this could have is finding a partner that aligns with your 'medical freedom' views," Katrine Wallace, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, told AFP. "There is no clinical reason to do so."

Time to swipe left?: Misinformation drives 'vaccine-free' dating

If you're looking for love, the internet might seem like a great place to start. Dating apps have made it way easier to meet new people but we say online dating is not always all wine and roses. It's not always a safe experience.

WION Dispatch: The dangers of looking for love online

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'My secret agent': US Army veteran spills defence secrets on dating site

Time to swipe left?: Misinformation drives 'vaccine-free' dating

WION Dispatch: The dangers of looking for love online