Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Jul 06, 2025

There’s a new influencer in town: Followed by thousands, in service to Her Majesty the Queen… welcome to Instagram, MI5

There’s a new influencer in town: Followed by thousands, in service to Her Majesty the Queen… welcome to Instagram, MI5

British spy agency MI5 is now on Instagram, promising to show off the ‘secret of successful spying’ and demonstrate how to ‘consider all angles.’ It has already beaten its sister service, GCHQ, in number of followers.
In just five hours since making its first post, the official MI5 account already has 30,000 people following it. One could see this as a testament to the limelight that the counterintelligence agency gets from the similarly named foreign intelligence organization which employs fictitious super-agent James Bond. MI6 is sadly absent on the network, but GCHQ, Britain’s signal intelligence agency, joined Instagram in October 2018, and has only 24.3k followers so far.

British spooks will have to work hard, however, to compete with their cousins across the pond. Since the CIA joined the network in 2019, it has drawn a cozy audience of 350,000 followers.

The first MI5 post contains a photo from an unusual angle of its London HQ and says that considering unorthodox perspectives is a “secret to successful spying.” It adds: “Follow us as we open our doors to Instagram, granting you exclusive views of life inside MI5.”

Of course, spy agencies are supposedly not on Instagram for the strong following and free skin care products that are awarded to the regular influencer crowd. MI5 Director General Ken McCallum says he wants to helm a more open intelligence organization that is keeping up with “an increasingly open and connected world.”

“We owe it to the public to be constantly striving to learn and improve; and in our fast-moving world, with technology advancing at incredible speed, it would be dangerous vanity to imagine MI5 can build all the capabilities it needs inside its own bubble,” he wrote in the Daily Telegraph, in an article explaining the “belated” Instagram engagement.

The account will allow MI5 to “reach out directly” to the wider public, seeking recruits, external expertise, and “varied perspectives,” and debunking “whatever Martini-drinking stereotypes may be lingering” out there.

People should not disregard the agency as an employer “based on perceived barriers such as socio-economic background, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, disability, or which part of the country they happen to have been born in.”

So there you are: the MI5 is on ‘gram to show its woker side and lure better talent. Hopefully, this drive won’t be as prone to hilarious linguistic blunders as the CIA’s has been, when it comes to Russia. After all, Moscow is a top spy threat for London – or so it has been saying for years.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
King Charles Plans Significant Role for Prince Harry in Coronation
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Espionage Activities Against U.S. Navy
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
×