The social network faced severe criticism from users after Nigeria attack.
By Sreejith Vallikunnu
Facebook has again activated its safety check feature after a deadly blast in Nigeria on Tuesday that killed at least 32 people and wounded 80 others.
This is the second time the feature has been used in the wake of a terrorist attack after Paris on Friday.
The social media network faced severe criticism from users for activating the feature only for Paris terror attack and not for attacks in Beirut, Lebanon or any other African or Asian countries.
“We’ve activated Safety Check again after the bombing in Nigeria this evening,†Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg posted in Facebook on Wednesday.
“After the Paris attacks last week, we made the decision to use Safety Check for more tragic events like this going forward. We’re now working quickly to develop criteria for the new policy and determine when and how this service can be most useful.â€
“Unfortunately, these kinds of events are all too common, so I won’t post about all of them. A loss of human life anywhere is a tragedy, and we’re committed to doing our part to help people in more of these situations,†he wrote.
He continued to add that “In times like this, it’s important to remind ourselves that despite the alarming frequency of these terrible events, violence is actually at an all-time low in history and continues to decline. Deaths from war are lower than ever, murder rates are generally dropping around the world, and — although it’s hard to believe – even terrorist attacks are declining.â€
After the Paris attack, the social media network also asked users to customise their profile picture by adding a filter of the France flag to show their solidarity. Many users criticized the move by asking why Facebook is only introducing this feature after the Paris attack while other countries have experienced attacks and nothing was done.
French woman Charlotte Farhan’s Facebook post about her refusal to change her profile photo went viral with more than 150,000 likes and close to 100,000 shares.