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The CIA is joining Instagram

The CIA is joining Instagram

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‘Our team worked with the CIA, as they do with many partners,’ says Instagram

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CIA lobby (wikimedia commons)
CIA lobby (wikimedia commons)

The Central Intelligence Agency will soon be launching an Instagram account, Director Gina Haspel said last week — and Instagram is helping them set it up.

On Thursday, Director Haspel addressed a crowd at Auburn University in Alabama and mentioned that the CIA would soon have a presence on Instagram. The agency already has Facebook and Twitter accounts where they thirst for young talent with memes, and Instagram would be the intelligence agency’s latest foray into social media.

“Of course, CIA does have a Twitter account,” Haspel said Thursday. “Our office of public affairs is getting ready to launch our Instagram account.”

It’s unclear when the account will officially launch or what its purpose will be, but according to Mashable, there’s already a placeholder page filled with random code waiting to be released to the public.

An Instagram spokesperson told The Verge on Monday, “Our team worked with the CIA, as they do with many partners, to provide best practices and guidance when it comes to launching an Instagram account.”

Even though it might sound unusual for a social media platform to be working with a federal intelligence agency, it’s not unheard of. Twitter officials have worked alongside federal lawmakers and agencies to launch their social media accounts before as well. After the 2018 elections, like several elections that preceded them, Twitter collaborated with congressional committees and lawmakers to ensure a smooth transition from one congressional session to the next.

Other federal agencies like the FBI and TSA have Instagram accounts, too. The FBI’s is relatively boring, posting photos with students or of law enforcement training. The TSA’s is wilier, posting images of items that were confiscated after people tried to get them past airport security.

Here’s hoping the CIA posts more like the TSA with its nunchucks and blunts, instead of the FBI’s corny dad jokes and smiling kids.