After more than 30 years, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) launched their first public social media account Wednesday.
In a Tweet sent out just before 9 a.m. MT, the organization’s first tweet was sent out.
Yes, we're on Twitter. Now it's your turn to follow us. https://t.co/LBrI7SrYEI
— CSIS Canada (@csiscanada) July 13, 2016
The organization also released a statement from Michel Coulombe, Director of CSIS, saying the service “recognizes that a modern organization needs to communicate using modern means.”
“A key element of the organization’s vision is to communicate our role to Canadians, so they may attain a better understanding of CSIS.
Coulombe’s statement went on to say: “Speaking publicly about the nature of our work isn’t always easy, but we want CSIS to be more accessible, and want to help the public understand more about our work. Joining Twitter is one step in strengthening the dialogue with Canadians.”
The account’s initial Tweet was met with some ribbing online, with some users questioning whether the account was real, and another government organization issued their own response.
The official account for the Communications Security Establishment welcomed CSIS to Twitter, and offered some cheeky advice.
.@csiscanada Welcome to Twitter! Allow us to offer some neighbourly advice: “password” is never a good password! pic.twitter.com/FdaE5dSmyR
— CSE_CST (@cse_cst) July 13, 2016
The service was officially established on July 16, 1984.