A US court has sentenced former serviceman Jack Teixeira to 15 years in prison for leaking classified military information in a Minecraft-related Discord server.
In 2022, Teixeira shared classified documents within a Discord server dedicated to the popular game. His motive appears to have been boasting to his online friends. One of the 25 members of the server then leaked the information more widely.
The court's statement emphasized the severity of Teixeira's actions:
“The documents and information that Teixeira posted on social media were top secret and contained sensitive national defense information...By posting classified intelligence on the Discord platform to boost his own ego and impress his anonymous online friends, Teixeira inflicted exceptionally grave damage to the United States’ national security. The scope of his betrayal is staggering. The damage he has caused is immeasurable.”
Teixeira was apprehended in April 2023 after Discord administrators revealed his location. Initially pleading not guilty, he eventually accepted a plea deal to avoid a harsher sentence.
