Facebook Introduces Safety Check for Yola Bombing

Facebook has activated the Safety Check for the second time in less than a week following a bomb blast in Yola, Nigeria.

“We’ve activated Safety Check again after the bombing in Nigeria,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post. “A loss of human life anywhere is a tragedy, and we’re committed to doing our part to help people in more of these situations.”

“We’re now working quickly to develop criteria for the new policy and determine when and how this service can be most useful,” Zuckerberg said Tuesday.

At least 30 people were killed and about 70 others injured in a bomb blast that occurred in Yola on Tuesday evening, according to local news reports.

Facebook faced heavy criticism especially on social media in conflict-ridden countries after it activated Safety Check following the Paris attacks last week when some users asked why the people-finder feature wasn’t used following other violent incidents, including a recent bombing in Beruit with Nigerians in particular referring to the ongoing terrorist attacks happening in the Northeastern part of the country..

Prior to the Paris attacks, Facebook’s policy was to activate the feature only for natural disasters but Zuckerberg said that in the future, it will also be used for human disasters. Safety Check asks users if they are safe, and allows friends to view the responses.

The Global Terrorism Index reports that more than 32,000 people around the world were killed by terrorism in 2014.