CIA plans to join Instagram
The intelligence agency wants to share more, but don't expect it to spill secrets.
CIA Director Gina Haspel says the agency will soon have an official presence on Instagram.
The CIA's getting ready to transmit some photos -- on social media.
The usually secretive intelligence agency plans to launch an Instagram page in the near future, CIA Director Gina Haspel said during a national security forum Thursday at Auburn University. Haspel declassified the agency's plans while discussing its social media-savvy recruits and the challenge of trying to be transparent about its activities.
"Just to talk a moment about transparency, of course CIA does have a Twitter account," Haspel said. "Our office of public affairs is getting ready to launch our Instagram account."
Haspel acknowledged that some at the agency's Langley, Virginia , headquarters aren't eager to spill too many details about what it does, as noted by Mashable, which previously reported on the development.
"We try and be as open as we can, and to protect the secrets that we must protect," Haspel said.
As Haspel noted, the CIA already has an official account on Twitter, with more than 2.5 million followers, but the account appears to be mostly used to recruit new agents and offer history on the agency and some of its key figures over the years.
There's no word on when the account will begin sharing snaps -- or whether the pics come from those tiny spy cameras you see in the movies. A CIA representative declined to comment further beyond Haspel's remarks.
Haspel's speech: