GCHQ, the British government spying agency, has today poked its head above the parapet and joined social media.
It means the government body, closely allied to the CIA and NSA, can blast out its own messages to followers and keep track of your tweets without employing shadowy intelligence agents.
If you block @GCHQ it means they can’t legally spy on you without logging out of twitter, pass it on
— Alex Hern (@alexhern) May 16, 2016
Officials phrased the move as part of a PR offensive to help the public “understand more” about its work.
It also promised to send out brain teasers and cryptography puzzles in an attempt to put a cutesy spin on mass surveillance.
"@GCHQ follows you." – A lot less sinister now that they're on Twitter.
— Adam Shaw (@Shawzybaws) May 16, 2016
Regrettably, GCHQ missed the opportunity to follow avid tweeter Edward Snowden, whose revelations touched on British as well as US intelligence.
Welcome aboard, @GCHQ. https://t.co/SM6QVs0spl
— Office of the DNI (@ODNIgov) May 16, 2016
Unlike the @CIA account, which opened with a joke, @GCHQ has so far been stony-faced, following a selection of worthy charities, politicians and government bodies.
We can neither confirm nor deny that this is our first tweet.
— CIA (@CIA) June 6, 2014
It did, however, offer one flash of humor, choosing @007 as one of its first 30 followers.
https://twitter.com/kj_corcoran/status/732159267843772416
