Facebook’s Safety Check app used widely after Paris attacks

Following the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, social networking giant Facebook activated its “Safety Check” for Parisians so that friends and family could know about their whereabouts and be assured of their safety.

There is no question that “Safety Check” is a welcome feature as it quickly allows a person to let others know they are okay after a disaster strikes. Also, on Twitter, Paris people have used the hashtag, ‘#PorteOuverte” or “open door’ in French, offering shelter to stranded visitors.

In a detailed explanation, Zuckerberg wrote,”Many people have rightfully asked why we turned on Safety Check for Paris but not for bombings in Beirut and other places”. The feature rolled out a year ago, but many people are still discovering it for the first time. Facebook has also re-introduced the Safety Check system that was used following the Nepal quake.

As a result, Facebook has now changed the policy on using Safety Check and plans to activate for “other serious and tragic events in the future”, Schultz said. “Violence like this has no place in any city or country in the world”, Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post on Friday.

The Safety Check tool of the social network is automatically sending out notes to users located in the affected area, asking if the user is safe.

“People turn to Facebook to check on loved ones and get updates which is why we created Safety Check and why we have activated it today for people in Paris”, Facebook added.

The option to try this feature can be found on Facebook’s official page under the “We stand together”. But Zuckerberg says they will use it for “more human disasters going forward”.

“We want this tool to be available whenever and wherever it can help”, Schultz wrote.

Following the coinciding attacks on Paris and Beirut last week, Facebook was criticised over its decision to issue its Safety Check feature in Paris, but not Beirut, but this is about to change.