Sunday evening in Lahore, a suicide bomber attacked a public park full of people celebrating Easter. More than 60 people were killed in the incident and hundreds injured. Soon after, Facebook activated their 'Safety Check', so people can let their friends and family know that they are safe.
However, due to a geo-tagging error, a lot of people from India, UK and even the US received notification to check-in via that feature. It made many people wonder if they had just missed a terror attack in their location. A lot of people reacted angrily on social media. Facebook has apologized about this goof-up in a post:
Facebook launched safety check-in feature in October 2014, then activating it several times during the crisis of Paris, Earthquake in Nepal, Cyclone in South Pacific and many such incidents. This was the first time when Facebook's feature acted up and made people uncomfortable.
Many users got this 'bug' according to the social network, but they didn't specify any numbers. Some were even thought that they just missed a terrorist attack.
Last year, Facebook had faced backlash over activating the feature for the Paris disaster but not for Beirut.
However, due to a geo-tagging error, a lot of people from India, UK and even the US received notification to check-in via that feature. It made many people wonder if they had just missed a terror attack in their location. A lot of people reacted angrily on social media. Facebook has apologized about this goof-up in a post:
"We activated Safety Check today in Lahore, Pakistan, after an explosion that took place there. This kind of bug is counter to our intent. We worked quickly to resolve the issue and we apologize to anyone who mistakenly received the notification."
We activated Safety Check today in Lahore, Pakistan, after an explosion that took place there. We hope the people in the...
Posted by Disaster Response on Facebook on Sunday, March 27, 2016
Facebook launched safety check-in feature in October 2014, then activating it several times during the crisis of Paris, Earthquake in Nepal, Cyclone in South Pacific and many such incidents. This was the first time when Facebook's feature acted up and made people uncomfortable.
Many users got this 'bug' according to the social network, but they didn't specify any numbers. Some were even thought that they just missed a terrorist attack.
Is everyone on FB getting this? pic.twitter.com/HE4F4tGYMx
— Rameez (@Sychlops) March 27, 2016
this really freaked me out until I realized that Facebook thought I was in Pakistan pic.twitter.com/3w6iHCsIaC
— Rachel Zarrell (@rachelzarrell) March 27, 2016
There are better ways to ask a guy currently in Montana why he hasn't logged in to Facebook for a long time. pic.twitter.com/sRpaQflWrt
— Chris Sacca (@sacca) March 27, 2016
Thankfully I'm nowhere near the #Lahore bombing. Facebook Safety Check gave me a fright for sec making me think something nearby happened.
— JoshWotes (@JSe3ow) March 27, 2016
Last year, Facebook had faced backlash over activating the feature for the Paris disaster but not for Beirut.