MI5 Joins Instagram
Instagram’s reputation as the home of recipe shots, makeup tips and holiday boasts may have to be reassessed as MI5, the domestic spy agency, joins the social networking site.
British security service MI5 is joining Instagram in a bid to increase its transparency and content posted on social media by security service will include previously undisclosed archive documents.
The MI5 account, @mi5official, will host Q&As with serving intelligence officers and promote career opportunities.
In an intriguing first post, the service said the secret to successful spying was to "consider all angles".
MI5 spy agency chief, Ken McCallum said "being more open" was key to MI5's approach to the 2020s.
Urging people to follow the service, Mr McCallum added: "You can insert your own joke about whether we will be following you." McCallum said in The Telegraph that joining the Instagram platform was "a routine step for most organisations, but more interesting when you're in the business of keeping secrets." He also said the intelligence service was facing a dilemma: "On the one hand, our ability to serve the public and keep the country safe depends critically on operating covertly."
Replying to its first Instagram update, which showed the secure "pods" used by MI5 staff to enter its London HQ - Home Secretary Priti Patel said: "Thank you for your exceptional work in keeping our country safe."
MI5 plans to use the platform to debunk popular myths about its work and reveal never-before-seen material from the archives of its 112-year past.It also promises to show what it's like to be an agent runner and surveillance officer, though Mr McCallum says their operations will not become "an open book".
MI5 is relatively late to the party when it comes to spies on social media. GCHQ launched its Instagram account in 2018, while the US intelligence agency the CIA has 3.2 million followers on Twitter. The recently-appointed head of MI6 Richard Moore tweets regularly.
Outlining his strategy as MI5's new boss in October last year, Mr McCallum said: "If I want one thing to characterise my tenure in this role, it's for MI5 to open up and reach out in new ways. "Much of what we do needs to remain invisible, but what we are doesn't have to be. In fact, opening up is key to our future success."
@ChiefMI6: BBC: Telegraph: Independent: The Times:
You Might Also Read:
