In the face of criticism after the attacks on Paris last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the website's Safety Check feature has been activated for people in Yola, Nigeria, too.
This after a suicide bombing incident in the said city, killing at least 31 people and injured 72 others on Tuesday evening, Nov. 17. The bombing was reportedly perpetrated by Boko Haram extremists.
According to Mark Zuckerberg, after the simultaneous attacks on Paris last week, Facebook dedicated itself to use Safety Check more to ensure connectivity among Facebook users even in tragic incidents.
"After the Paris attacks last week, we made the decision to use Safety Check for more tragic events like this going forward," Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page. "We're now working quickly to develop criteria for the new policy and determine when and how this service can be most useful."
The announcement comes after Facebook had become the subject of criticism by netizens after the Paris attacks, accusing the website of "selective outrage" and "double standards."
Some people questioned Facebook's decision to turn on its Safety Check feature for Parisians on the day of the said incident but failed to have the same feature available for Beirut, where twin bombings also ensued just a day before the attacks on Paris.
"Until yesterday [the day of the Paris attacks], our policy was only to activate Safety Check for natural disasters," Zuckerberg wrote. "We just changed this and now plan to activate Safety Check for more human disasters going forward as well."
Facebook was also criticized for allowing its users to change their profile pictures to the colors of the French flag but failed to do so for other countries like Syria, which suffered tremendous loss due to civil war and refugee problems.
On the other hand, Mark Zuckerberg went on to defend his multi-billion dollar company, saying that Facebook cares about everyone.
"We care about all people equally, and we will work hard to help people suffering in as many of these situations as we can," the Facebook CEO said.
