Social network giant Facebook recently issued an apology when a glitch in its Safety Check alert system caused confusion to millions of its users. The Safety Check alert system was quickly dispatched following the suicide bombing in Lahore, Pakistan. However, users from parts of Europe, India, United States and Asia received the notification which in turn turned to confusion and even shock.
In a statement acquired by USA Today, Facebook said, "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 notification asking if they were okay. 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."
According to CBS News, the suicide attack on Lahore took place near a park on Easter Sunday and took the lives of at least 70 people, leaving hundreds injured or wounded in the blast.
The Safety Check feature was launched in October 2014 and aims to help Facebook users notify some of their friends and family members of their status in cases of emergency or natural disasters. The main mission of the feature is to provide a simple and easy way to check and make sure that friends and family members are safe in event of calamities.
The Safety Check feature proved to be a quick and easy way to help Facebook users and was activated following the terror attacks in Paris and most recently in Brussels. The feature was also activated in times of natural disasters such as earthquakes just like what happened in Nepal.
This is not the first time Facebook received some negative comments regarding the roll out for Safety Check. In November 2015, Facebook was criticized for not turning on the Safety Check feature following a series of bombings in Beirut. The company was questioned why it rolled out the feature in the aftermath of the Paris attack but not Beirut and other places.
While the glitch caused a series of confusion and shock, some Facebook users who incorrectly received the notifications were glad of the efforts social networking giant is extending its grasp to help people from other parts of the world.