Facebook changes policy for Safety Check in response to criticism

A wave of criticism emerged against the billion-user website after Facebook activated its “Safety Check” feature following the latest Paris attacks.

The feature allowed the site’s users in the area of the attacks to mark themselves as safe on their profiles, to reassure family and friends. Apparently, 360 million users got notifications that their Facebook friends were safe after the night of the attacks. 

However, many users questioned why Facebook didn’t prompt the same reaction when a similar event happened just days before in Beirut. Implying that Facebook considered some areas more worthy of attention than others.

Facebook started Safety Check in 2014 and till last Friday, it was only used five times, Typhoon Ruby in the Philippines, Tropical Cyclone Pam in the South Pacific, and earthquakes in Chile, Nepal and Afghanistan. Obviously none were violent attacks. 

In a post on his Facebook page, Mark Zuckerberg explained:
“You are right that there are many other important conflicts in the world. Until yesterday, our policy was only to activate Safety Check for natural disasters. We just changed this [policy] and now plan to activate Safety Check for more human disasters going forward as well.”

The company is still trying to understand how this feature can be used more effectively whenever needed, as promised by a Facebook executive.