A single tweet Monday announced GCHQ, the secretive British spy agency that monitors electronic communications, had joined Twitter.
Hello, world. https://t.co/SROtSsE8KB
— GCHQ (@GCHQ) May 16, 2016
That was followed a little while later with this:
Learn more about the birth of British Signals Intelligencehttps://t.co/3nkdWCaacO pic.twitter.com/CZGW8dNcra
— GCHQ (@GCHQ) May 16, 2016
GCHQ and its American counterpart, the National Security Agency (NSA), were at the center of revelations by Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who revealed the extent of global surveillance by the two agencies and their allies.
The NSA, which has its own Twitter account, has not yet commented publicly on GCHQ’s foray into Twitter, but the CIA, which joined Twitter in June 2014, did welcome its trans-Atlantic cousin:
Welcome to Twitter @GCHQ! https://t.co/EmD8hGMRBv
— CIA (@CIA) May 16, 2016
The response to GCHQ joining Twitter was almost as acerbic as when the CIA launched its account. Here’s a sampling:
Remember when you secretly admitted you hide programs to prevent public debate & lawsuits? https://t.co/ASvyjzNDx2 https://t.co/LlXWyY2h7I
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 16, 2016
@GCHQ If a tree falls in the forest and there's no one around to hear it, do you still record the sound?
— Mike Fails (@angry_bucket) May 16, 2016
After years of following us, we can now follow them! 😏 https://t.co/3hWgRbyjbg
— John Prescott (@johnprescott) May 16, 2016
