Sask. says sharing of explicit post shaming COVID-19 concerns was done in error

Saskatchewan says the sharing of an expletive-laden social media post was made in error. 

The official Government of Saskatchewan Twitter account briefly shared a message critical of those calling for cheaper private COVID-19 tests on Monday morning. 

The Tweet was not written by the Saskatchewan government. It was posted by an account replying to another tweet. 

It was then shared, or retweeted, by the government account. 

It started with a person tweeting a complaint about the $199 cost of a PCR test that can be purchased at Shoppers Drug Mart. It tagged Health Minister Paul Merriman, Premier Scott Moe and the Saskatchewan government's official Twitter account. 

Another account then replied, falsely comparing COVID to a cold, calling the person complaining stupid and using explicit language. 

That reply was then shared by the government's account.

Officials with the provincial government say staff were attempting to hide the explicit tweet, as it contained inappropriate language, which is against the government's social media policy. 

That policy applies to all social media channels including comments and replies, the province said. 

However, instead of hiding the reply as intended, the employee inadvertently shared the message.  

The retweet was quickly removed from the account.

The government did not offer an apology and said the "retweet button was hit in error."