In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday, the social network activated the push notification which allowed people in Paris to tell their friends and family that they were okay.
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Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg addressed these concerns Saturday in a comment on his page, explaining that the site made a decision to adjust the Safety Check policy to expand the type of incidents it covers.
Zuckerberg said it was decided after the Paris attacks last week to use Safety Check for more tragic events like this going forward.
Facebook executives have responded to critics who have questioned why the company hasn’t activated its “safety check” feature in more situations.
Schultz defended Facebook’s decision not to switch on Safety Check following messages from people asking why the feature was not used when very bad things happen in other parts of the world where violence is more common. “Facebook engineers on the ground were concerned, saw people posting they were safe and wanted to make that easier”.
If you were on Facebook during the Paris attacks on Friday you may have noticed something new.
Over four million users marked themselves safe during the Paris attacks according to Fox News.
When first launched, Facebook noted that “Safety Check” would help users let friends and family know they are safe, check on others in the area, and mark friends as safe.
Facebook rolled out the feature in October of 2014 citing the 2011 quake in Japan as the major inspiration for creating the tool. It said it will now activate the feature during human disasters – not just natural disasters. Since then, it has been turned on for disasters such as earthquakes in Afghanistan, Nepal and Chile, as well as during Typhoon Ruby in the Philippines and Tropical Cyclone Pam in the South Pacific.
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“We hope it’s a tool that helps you stay connected to those you care about, and gives you the comfort of knowing your loved ones are safe”.
