The Charity Commission has said that a social media post that referred to “harm” caused by the transgender youth charity Mermaids was reposted by its account in error.
Earlier today the regulator’s official account on X, formerly Twitter, reshared a post that described the transgender youth charity Mermaids as being “responsible for so much harm”.
The original post, which was published by a social media account with the user name Miguel640283347, shared a video clip of Lauren Stoner, Mermaids’ chief executive, discussing the recently published Cass Review on Sky News.
The post said: “Responsible for so much harm & under investigation by the Charity Commission.”
The commission opened a statutory inquiry into governance and management issues at Mermaids in December 2022, which is currently ongoing.
The commission told Third Sector that the post was shared on its professional account in error and was deleted shortly after the mistake was flagged.
A spokesperson for the regulator said: “During routine monitoring of social media a post that mentioned the commission was accidentally reposted. This was removed quickly, as soon as it was identified.”
The regulator’s strategy for 2024 to 2029, which was launched in February, outlines the commission’s commitment to be “fair and proportionate in its work” and to “speak with authority and credibility, free from the influence of others”.
Mermaids said that it has written to the regulator calling to ask what further action would be taken as a result of the error.
A spokesperson for the charity told Third Sector: “This is completely inappropriate behaviour from the regulator for charities who must remain scrupulously independent across all their work.”
In a public statement, Mermaids said that the regulator had confirmed that the shared post “appears to have been accidental activity during monitoring”.
The charity said: “We recognise that accidents do happen, however vigilance is required to ensure that these are addressed as soon as possible.”
It said: “As a public body, the commission must appear to be scrupulously independent and unbiased across its work, including its activity on social media, and it is disappointing that it has taken approaches by outside parties for these accidents to be resolved.”
Mermaids said that it welcomed reassurance that the regulator was “exploring additional safeguards to prevent a recurrence”.
But the charity said it remained concerned at the potential impact of such mistakes on transgender children and young people.
The statement concluded: “We look forward to an apology from the commission for the potential impacts of these mistakes, and additional assurance for those charities working in areas at the centre of highly politicised discussion that there will be no recurrence.”