The Central Intelligence Agency is finally on Twitter -- officially, at least.
Shortly before 2 p.m. on Friday, @CIA said hello to the world with a joke.
So far the secretive spy agency is only following 25 accounts, all but one of them a government account, so for the time being, curious citizens will have to follow the CIA, not the other way around.
Twitter's government team confirmed Friday afternoon that the account is real. A press release from the CIA also noted that the agency has also joined Facebook. It already had a YouTube account.
The news has already inspired a backlash. In many often profane responses, writers, civil liberties and human rights advocates cataloged the CIA's long history of involvement in overthrowing legitimately elected governments, torture, and its drone program.