Facebook Safety Check Activated After New York Explosion
Facebook activated its Safety Check feature that allows users to inform family and friends about their condition after the explosion in New York last Saturday that left 29 injured people.
Safety Check throws an automatic question to users within a disaster area if they are safe. Users can click the "Ok" or "I'm safe" buttons to inform friends that their safety is insured.
Chairman and co-founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg said that "safety check is our way of helping our community during natural disasters and gives you an easy and simple way to say you're safe and check on all your friends and family in one place."
Zuckerberg added that the service was inspired by Japan after a tsunami devastated its several regions in 2011, International Business Times mentioned.
This is the first time Facebook activated the service in New York city.
The explosion occurred on West 23rd Street of Chelsea Neighborhood. The blast reportedly came from a construction toolbox left in front of an establishment. Mayor Bill de Blasio disclosed that the injurious incident seemed "intentional."
Fox News cited sources saying that a pressure cooker which served as a second device was spotted few blocks away from the explosion site.
Safety Check service debuted in 2014 and was used in several incidents including the Ankara bombing, terror attacks in Brussels and Paris. The first time it was activated in the United States was in June this year after the Orlando shooting in a gay nightclub. In July, the service was activated again after a sniper attacked on the police officers of Dallas and during the Nice, France onslaught.
Despite of its benefits to communities, the service also suffered from glitches. Facebook recently issued its apology for the misdirected notifications sent following the Easter Sunday bombing in Lahore, Pakistan. The said incident left 70 fatalities.
De Blasio stressed that "there is no specific and credible threat to New York city from any terror organization. We believe at this point in time this was an intentional act."
