The conflict between Ottawa and Riyadh began after the Canadian Foreign Ministry expressed its concern over human rights in Saudi Arabia following the arrests of women's rights activists in the Arab kingdom, which Riyadh interpreted as an attempt at interfering in its internal affairs, subsequently expelling Canada's envoy to the country. Riyadh threatened that if Ottawa continues to allegedly meddle in its affairs, it would reciprocally interfere in Canada's.
The heated exchange between Canada and Saudi Arabia over alleged interference has not abated, but has simply shifted to Twitter.
READ MORE: Saudi Arabian Airline Suspends Flights to Canada in Growing Human Rights Row
A number of twitterians, allegedly from Saudi Arabia, started posting tweets in support of the rights of Canada's indigenous peoples, as well as in support of Quebec's independence — a Canadian province known for its strong separatist sentiment.
Canadian Twitter users didn't hesitate to respond, mocking Saudi Arabia's human rights record and joking about Saudis' purported support for liberties while failing to permit a "liberty blog." The Canadian users also pointed out that Ottawa had made significant efforts to address the concerns of the Quebecois population.
However, some Twitter users expressed skepticism as to whether it actually was Saudi citizens who had posted the tweets regarding Quebec's independence, as many of the posts looked strikingly similar, if not the same.
The online row was further fueled by a controversial post by a Saudi Twitter account named infographic_ksa, featuring a picture showing a plane flying towards the Toronto skyline and an Arabic proverb suggesting that Canada shouldn't "stick its nose" in Saudi Arabia's affairs. The tweet has since been deleted, but twitterians managed to take a screenshot of the post, which some twitterians interpreted as a threat to perpetrate a 9/11-style attack in Canada.
READ MORE: Verified Saudi Account Seemingly Threatens Canada With 9/11 Style Attack
The Saudi Twitter account published an apology, saying that it did not intend to threaten anyone with the original post. According to the user, the plane represented the return of the Canadian ambassador to Canada.