---
title: "Army social media employee fired over COVID-19 post on the service’s official Instagram"
description: "An Army social media employee was \"relieved\" over an Instagram post on the Army's official account answering questions about the novel coronavirus"
date: "2020-03-22"
modified: "2020-03-22"
authors:
  - name: "Haley Britzky"
    job_title: "Former Army Reporter"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/haley-britzky/"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-instagram-coronavirus/"
categories:
  - "Culture"
  - "Entertainment"
tags:
  - "Covid-19"
  - "scandals"
---

# Army social media employee fired over COVID-19 post on the service’s official Instagram

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/etpszlvwkaapcaq-1.jpg>)

Gather 'round all ye social media folk, for a cautionary tale about posting dumb shit.

On Saturday, the Army fired a social media manager over an Instagram post relating to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

The post that appears to have been the one to bring down the wrath of higher-ups was answering a question, "Why did a man eat a bat" — seeming to refer to the theory that the virus originated from someone eating a coronavirus-infected bat in China, [which hasn't been verified](<https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/19/health/coronavirus-human-actions-intl/index.html>).

"It wasn't because he was thirsty," the Army's response said, including an emoji of a man shrugging.

The post was immediately criticized on social media for being inappropriate, with Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), an Army veteran, calling it "simply unacceptable."

"We do not know how #COVID19 first infected humans but racism has no place in our Armed Forces," [she tweeted](<https://twitter.com/SenDuckworth/status/1241431322264035329>). "I'll be calling @SecArmy to find out how this happened."

According to [Military Times](<https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2020/03/21/army-employee-fired-for-insensitive-post-about-coronavirus-outbreak/>), the post was up "for several hours before being deleted."

As of Sunday, [according to Johns Hopkins University](<https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html>), more 320,000 people around the world have contracted the disease — and more than 13,700 people have died.

The post was part of [a series of posts](<https://twitter.com/Dubeeous/status/1241424303545090053?s=20>) that answered questions about the virus — appearing to make light of the circumstances.

"What's the biggest threat that covid-19 poses?" one question said.

"Death," the Army responded, with a thinking emoji.

Another post provided false information, saying children cannot get the virus. ([They can.](<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/health/coronavirus-childen.html>))

"The Army regrets the inappropriate post on Instagram related to the COVID19 response and the individual who posted it has been relieved," the Army [posted on Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/p/B-ArjFajPCT/?igshid=9kow4bq1cwzu>) shortly afterwards.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-ArjFajPCT

"The post has been removed and we are taking action to ensure this doesn't happen again, including retraining for our social media personnel."

## Author
Haley Britzky was the Task & Purpose Army reporter from 2019 to 2022. She previously worked at Axios covering breaking news. She reports on important developments within the service, from new uniforms to new policies; the realities of military life facing soldiers and their families; and broader cultural issues that expand outside of the Army, touching each of the military services.Â

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/haley-britzky-b09022a0/>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/halbritz>)