Friday, 29 March 2024
Facebook apologise for Pakistan 'Safety Check' error

Facebook apologise for Pakistan 'Safety Check' error

Facebook has apologised for pushing its safety check feature to users worldwide in the wake of the suicide bombing in Pakistan.

After the deadly attack in Lahore on Sunday, in which at least 69 people were killed and hundreds injured, Facebook users nowhere near the Pakistani city were mistakenly asked if they were safe.

Users as far away as Sydney, Honolulu, Brussels, Ontario, Cairo, Hong Kong and New York received the notification care of Facebook’s disaster response feature.

Some users received texts to their phones asking “Have you been affected by the explosion?” without any indication of where the danger was.

It is not known how many people mistakenly received the notification, but Facebook has been contacted for comment.

The site apologised for the error in a post.

“We activated Safety Check today in Lahore, Pakistan, after an explosion that took place there. We hope the people in the area of the bombing find Safety Check a useful and helpful way to let their friends and family know they are okay.

“Unfortunately, many people not affected by the crisis received a notification asking if they were okay. This kind of bug is counter to our intent. We worked quickly to resolve the issue and we apologise to anyone who mistakenly received the notification.”

(Extracts from The Guardian)

Last modified on Tuesday, 29 March 2016 22:23