When it comes to government information, there is no shortage of sensitive matters. As it turns out, a 鈥渇un fact鈥� about ocean critters is on the list.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada tweeted about the parasites that plague swordfish last November. Two days later, the tweet was deleted.
The reason? 鈥淪ensitivities about the parasites,鈥� the department says.
鈥淲e recognized after posting that the use of the word 鈥榩arasite鈥� without more detail might leave a negative impression about swordfish and the fishery,鈥� spokesperson Kariane Charron said in an email.
It wasn鈥檛 the only time in recent history that a government department or agency regretted hitting the send button on a social media post.
Since 2019, tweets have been deleted for everything from mundane formatting errors and spelling mistakes to threatening comments or, in some cases, puns that didn鈥檛 quite land.
Conservative member of Parliament Michael Barrett requested details about the deletions in a written question, and the government recently tabled its reply in the House of Commons.
Last September, the Privy Council Office sent condolences out on Twitter after the death of Queen Elizabeth II 鈥� but then discovered an inconsistency in the spelling of her name between the English and French versions of the message. It deleted and then reissued the post after deciding to stick with the English version of the deceased monarch鈥檚 name.
Parasites weren鈥檛 the only fodder for regret at Fisheries and Oceans. When the department tweeted out a video about the sustainability of the seafood industry, staff who had initially been angling for views ultimately decided that the 鈥渁ngle of the message was wrong.鈥�
And the department found itself erasing another post, this time about a Coast Guard vessel that had transferred fuel to another ship. The tweet was scrubbed after staff discovered that the fuel was contaminated.
Staff behind a Twitter account for the government鈥檚 surplus purchasing website 鈥� which includes goods forfeited by police 鈥� kiboshed a post advertising a gold Rolex 鈥渇ollowing an (inquiry) about the watch potentially being stolen.鈥�
There were more serious concerns at play behind some of the other decisions.
The RCMP has edited or deleted tweets from its national account at least 13 times, including last December. That鈥檚 when it apologized for promoting an online application for firearms licenses on the 33rd anniversary of the 脡cole Polytechnique massacre, when a gunman murdered 14 women and wounded 14 other people at the Montreal engineering school.
Last winter鈥檚 鈥淔reedom Convoy鈥� protests also prompted the Mounties to scrub at least four tweets about the Musical Ride, a specialized unit intended to promote the force. That came as a result of reported death threats against officers who are part of the unit, after their personal information was leaked through messages shared in an RCMP Musical Ride group chat.
Hate speech against women and LGBTQ people that had cropped up in the comments led the Treasury Board to delete posts themed on Women鈥檚 History Month in September 2021.
While some of the deletions highlight the vitriol that exists on social media, others show the ways that staffers tried 鈥� and perhaps failed 鈥� to use the platforms for light-hearted humour.
On one occasion, the Canada Revenue Agency tried to turn the unofficial December holiday of 鈥渘ational monkey day鈥� into a chance to steer people to use its online portal.
Telling Canadians to 鈥渂e a chimp-ion this tax season鈥� and describing the perks are 鈥渁bsolutely a-peeling-in,鈥� the message featured monkey and banana emojis. That was deemed too risky, as it could be 鈥渢aken out of context,鈥� the agency said.
On May 4, the National Research Council Canada tried to join in on the fun of what鈥檚 colloquially known as Star Wars Day 鈥� because 鈥淢ay the fourth be with you.鈥�
But its tweet about meteorology was nixed two weeks later. The department got rid of the message, it said, after determining that the intergalactic content fell outside of its 鈥渕andate.鈥�
鈥擲tephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press
