() The Pentagon said it would impose new restrictions on reporters who cover the Department of Defense, requiring them not to gather or use any information not authorized for release or risk losing their media credentials.

In a 17-page memo issued Thursday, the Pentagon stated that “it remains committed to transparency to promote accountability and public trust.” However, it added that “information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.”

Journalists reporting from the Pentagon are now required to sign a pledge agreeing to restrict their movements within the building and not to access any unauthorized materials. If they refuse to sign that pledge, their Pentagon press pass will be revoked.

“The ‘press’ does not run the Pentagon the people do. The press is no longer allowed to roam the halls of a secure facility,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a post on social platform X. “Wear a badge and follow the rules or go home.”

These are the latest press restrictions issued by the agency after Hegseth ordered reporters must have a government escort with them when going into certain areas of the Pentagon in May.

The Freedom of the Press Foundation released a statement following the memo, saying the policy “operates as a prior restraint on publication which is considered the most serious of First Amendment violations.” It added: “The government cannot prohibit journalists from public information merely by claiming it’s a secret.”