The name’s #Bond: MI6 joins Instagram in hunt for new recruits

It appealed to potential agents with a slick video boasting all the spy-movie trimmings: a flashy car tearing through the desert, a mysterious man in a suit walking through the woods, a clandestine meeting in a boardroom. It published further instructions, in multiple languages, on the service’s new YouTube channel.

The week before, the service had joined Instagram, announcing its arrival with a rather more amateur video edit – this time with photos of James Bond, Killing Eve and other fictional depictions of espionage. “It’s time to tell our own story,” it said.

The new social media blitz is part of a trend in British government communications: from Whitehall departments to the intelligence services, agencies once adverse to public attention are now chasing followers and engagement.

“What we’re seeing is a blend of entertainment, branding and politics, very much in the American style,” says Dr Emma Connolly, a political communications researcher at UCL.

When MI5 joined Instagram in 2021, the security service announced the move in the Telegraph, stating its desire to “get past the Martini-drinking stereotypes”. Now, both services are embracing the type of entertainment-first content more commonly seen on TikTok.

MI5 now posts videos and memes on Instagram, with captions such as “POV: you’re a carpenter and you want to be a spy.” The services has embraced “trending” audio sounds – formats that are going viral at the time – and an array of hashtags, such as #Keepingthecountrysafe, or the rather tame #summer.

Not to be outdone, MI6 has “collaborated” with the Foreign Office’s Instagram account – publishing a skit about a briefcase handoff between two unnamed officials, featuring a James Bond theme and the comment: “Couldn’t you have just emailed?”

It’s not just the spies. During the 2019 election, the political battleground was Facebook. In 2025, it’s TikTok. Across Westminster, political comms teams are pivoting to video content, hoping to catch the attention of social media users – particularly younger voters.

For some, it’s statecraft via slideshow. For others, it’s an attempt to go viral. So far, the results have been mixed.

“Labour’s posts talk down to young people. It’s like they think all we want are memes,” says Caspar Daniels, a 15-year-old “Gen Z consultant” who has helped the Green party’s new leader, Zack Polanski, grow his digital presence. “Social media is an opportunity to turn out a new generation,” he says. “But only if you’re saying something real.

An MI6 spokesperson said the goal of the Instagram account was not virality but visibility: to improve public understanding of the agency’s role and connect with “people who might want to work with the service”.

But there are reasons to be cautious. “Use of social media has been shown to attract conspiracy theorist activity,” says Michael Landon-Murray, University of Colorado.

While engaging in memes can risk looking flippant. “Part of this is ‘image and brand management’ and can border on soft-pedalling and propagandising.”

In an age when public attention is currency, even the most secretive institutions are finding that silence doesn’t sell. As MI5 has said: they may already be following you. Now, at least, you can follow them back.

Photograph by Sony Pictures