SoylentNews

takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Facebook's Safety Check feature [facebook.com] went above and beyond the call of duty after a deadly bombing in Pakistan [marketwatch.com]:

A Facebook Inc. function designed to let people tell friends and family they are safe after a disaster mistakenly asked users far from Sunday's deadly explosion in Pakistan if they were in harm's way.

The messages resulted from a bug in Facebook's "safety check" feature, which, when activated, allows Facebook users to mark themselves as safe on their profiles if they are near a natural disaster or bombing. The errant messages on Sunday reached some Facebook users in places as far away as New York and Washington, D.C. with texts and notifications asking if they were harmed by the explosion in Lahore, Pakistan, which killed at least 65 people.

Texts from Facebook asked: "Have you been affected by the explosion?" according to screenshots posted by users on Twitter. While Facebook smartphone notifications referenced Lahore, at least some text messages it sent didn't specify where the explosion took place, prompting momentary alarm for some users. One Twitter user wrote: "Thankfully I'm nowhere near the #Lahore bombing. Facebook Safety Check gave me a fright for sec making me think something nearby happened."

At least 65 people were killed on Sunday after an apparent suicide bombing at a public park in Lahore, Pakistan [npr.org]. The attack appeared to have occurred near the main gate of the park [bbc.com], where cars were parked and and a short distance from children's swings:

In the wake of the attack, the hashtag #LahoreBlast [twitter.com] was trending on Twitter. Some tweets said hospitals in Lahore were running low on blood, and exhorted residents of Lahore to donate if they could. Many expressed sorrow and anger at the blasts. "It's a park for gods sake!! Children on swings!! How can anybody even have the heart to do this," tweeted [twitter.com] Pakistani actress Mahira Khan.

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