A new kind of leaker: Spilling state secrets to impress online buddies

A decade after Edward Snowden leaked classified documents to change U.S. policy, the Discord leaks show how top-secret military intelligence can spread in internet backyards where users think ‘secrets are for losers’ and just want to make friends

By Marc Fisher

April 15, 2023 at 2:11 p.m. EDT

From left: Reality Winner, Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and Jack Teixeira. (Illustration by Lucy Naland/The Washington Post; Jelani Rice for The Washington Post; AP; Photo obtained by The Washington Post; iStock)

12 min

A decade ago, when low-level insiders with access to classified national security documents exposed the United States’ secrets to the public, they were assailed as traitors or hailed as whistleblowers, depending on one’s political bent.

This week, after revelations that a low-level technician in the Massachusetts Air National Guard allegedly shared hundreds of top-secret military intelligence documents online, there was little mention of treason and only occasional whispers of whistleblowing. The reactions and language are different this time because even though the underlying crime is the same — 21-year-old Jack Teixeira was charged Friday with taking and transmitting secret defense information and with willfully retaining classified documents — the apparent motives and methods stem from sharply different subcultures of American society.

The Discord Leaks

The Washington Post and “Frontline” partnered to investigate Jack Teixeira’s alleged leak of classified U.S. intelligence on the Discord chat platform. The new documentary, “The Discord Leaks,” premiered Tuesday, Dec. 12 and is available to watch on PBS streaming platforms and washingtonpost.com.

The suspected document leaker: Teixeira, a young member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was indicted on six charges. Interviews with people who knew Teixeira offer the most detailed account yet of how he allegedly leaked classified information and his motivations. Discord’s rules and culture allowed a racist and antisemitic community to flourish, giving Teixeira an eager audience unlikely to report his alleged lawbreaking.

How the leak happened: The Washington Post reported that the individual who leaked the information shared documents with a small circle of online friends on the Discord chat platform. The Air Force disciplined 15 members of the Air National Guard after an internal investigation found that a “lack of supervision” helped enable Teixeira. This is a timeline of how the documents leaked.

What we learned from the leaked documents: The massive document leak has exposed a range of U.S. government secrets, including spying on allies, the grim prospects for Ukraine’s war with Russia and the precariousness of Taiwan’s air defenses. It also has ignited diplomatic fires for the White House. Here’s what we’ve learned from the documents.