TSA Twitter Parody Gives Government a Freedom Pat

By Andrew Davis on December 13, 2010

Political expression has certainly changed since the days of campus protests and sit-ins. Along with the dawn of Facebook, Twitter and a multitude of other social media platforms has come a new breed of political activism that is conducted comfortably from one’s couch.

First, there was @BPGlobalPR. Then, there was @TSAgov.

Political expression has certainly changed since the days of campus protests and sit-ins. Along with the dawn of Facebook, Twitter and a multitude of other social media platforms has come a new breed of political activism that is conducted comfortably from one’s couch.

It doesn’t even require getting dressed.

During the gulf oil spill last summer, one Twitter account took center stage as the go-to resource for updates and news. Unfortunately for BP, those updates were the result of an anonymous social media satirist that had BP locked in the crosshairs.

Months later rose @TSAgov -- a Twitter response to the controversial screening techniques used by the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

And, "Agent Smith" of @TSAgov isn’t pulling any punches.

"Everybody's on our naughty list," reads one recent tweet from the account.

@TSAgov has even begun an ad campaign to "promote passenger compliance." You can see the first ad here.

When ConCrave.com first reported on the Twitter account, it had less than 1,000 followers. But, in the span of one week, @TSAgov exploded to more than 10 times that amount. More than 13,000 people now follow the parody account -- 2,000 more followers than the official the official TSA twitter account, @TSAblogteam.

The relationship between @TSAgov and @TSAblogteam isn’t rosy either.

A few days after the launch of @TSAgov, individuals running the @TSAblogteam blocked the satire account.

@TSAgov responded with the tweet: "Hey, Bob, we're playing for the same team: Freedom;" Bob being the name given to the operator of the TSA’s Twitter account.

After a holiday travel season that failed to live up to the media hype surrounding "porno scanners," "freedom pats," and "enhanced rubbing techniques" (the last two being popular terms coined by the @TSAgov account), the buzz created by @TSAgov has slowed down.

The account hovers just above 13,000 members -- far short of the 180,000 followers of @BPGlobalPR gained during the gulf oil crisis.

However, that apparently has not slowed @TSAgov. The account still tweets several times a day, and has even taken a holiday theme.

"Sorry kids, we put Santa on the no-fly list this Christmas," reads one Tweet. Another: "We consider Christmas to be a holy time. Many people pray at the security gate. Mostly to get through unmolested."

Tweets from @TSAgov are typically very topical to current news, especially when it relates to the TSA.

When the TSA came under fire this week for giving India Ambassador Meera Shankar one of their "enhanced" searches, @TSAgov responded: "To Ambassador Meera Shankar, we're sorry we singled you out. You should have been included with everybody else."

And, @TSAgov had their own WikiLeaks theme: "Obama refers to us as DikiPeeks."

Where will the @TSAgov go next? Well, that seems to be up to the TSA.

You can follow @TSAgov on Twitter, either by following the account or with the hashtag #tsagov.

Andrew Davis can be reached at ardavis85 /at/ gmail \dot\ com.