Snowden's Twitter account surpasses 1 million in under 24 hours
Less than 24 hours after joining Twitter Edward Snowden has reached 1 million followers, aking him one of the fastest to do so.
The former NSA security expert opened his Twitter account 24 hours ago with his first tweet reading: “can you hear me now?”
The 32 year-old, who now lives in Russia where he fled to after sharing top secret files with reporters more than two years ago, goes by @snowden handle and has had his account verified by Twitter with the blue tick.
It’s an impressive feat for a former intelligence officer who has come close to the world record held by Caitlyn Jenner, which is 1 million in four hours. That surpassed president Obama who reached the million mark 5 hours after opening his own Twitter account in May.
Snowden currently follows just one other user on the site - his former employer the NSA and his latest tweet references his ex-colleagues with the remark “Meanwhile, a thousand people at Fort Meade just opened Twitter.
Meanwhile, a thousand people at Fort Meade just opened Twitter.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 29, 2015