Facebook Responds To Criticism Over Paris-Only Safety Check Feature
MENLO PARK, Calif. (CBS Sacramento)-- Facebook is responding to backlash over a safety feature that was launched on its site during the Paris terror attacks.
Thousands of users in the Paris area checked in with the "Safety Check" feature, where they were able to alert friends and families that they were safe and unharmed during the deadly attacks.
While the feature offered solace to those with friends in family in France, others criticized the social network for not turning on safety features for the other sites of violence. Specific frustration regarded the lack of a safety feature for Beirut, where twin suicide bombings killed at least 43 people in Lebanon's capital, as reported by CBS News.
Facebook sets up safety check for Paris friends.Thank you #facebook for this great initiative but what about Beirut and Syria...
— Samira Hamana (@SamiraHamana) November 14, 2015
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended the feature on Sunday.
"Until yesterday, our policy was only to activate Safety Check for natural disasters," he wrote in a Facebook comment. "We just changed this and now plan to activate Safety Check for more human disasters going forward as well."
Alex Schultz, Vice President of Growth for Facebook, went into more detail regarding the site's decision. The tool was first used in Tokyo during the Tsunami and nuclear disaster in 2011 and has since been used for quakes in Afghanistan, Chile, Nepal in addition to Cyclone Pam in the South Pacific and Typhoon Ruby in he Philippines.
"We chose to activate Safety Check in Paris because we observed a lot of activity on Facebook as the events were unfolding... So we made the decision to try something we've never done before: activating Safety Check for something other than a natural disaster. There has to be a first time for trying something new, even in complex and sensitive times, and for us that was Paris." Schultz said in the statement.
Facebook emphasized that the feature is a "work in progress," but that it plans to activate it for other serious and tragic incidents going forward.
"You are right that there are many other important conflicts in the world. We care about all people equally, and we will work hard to help people suffering in as many of these situations as we can," Zuckerberg said in his post.