Here's why Facebook activated its Safety Check for Paris but not Beirut

(Image credit: Courtesy Facebook)

published 15 November 2015

One day before terrorist attacks in Paris killed at least 129 people, two suicide bombings in Beirut killed more than 40 people. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for both the France and Lebanon attacks.

"It...seems clear to me that to the world, my people's deaths in Beirut do not matter as much as my other people’s deaths in Paris," Lebanese blogger Joey Ayoub wrote Saturday, expressing a sentiment shared by many, Al Jazeera reports.

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We chose to activate Safety Check in Paris because we observed a lot of activity on Facebook as the events were unfolding. In the middle of a complex, uncertain situation affecting many people, Facebook became a place where people were sharing information and looking to understand the condition of their loved ones. We talked with our employees on the ground, who felt that there was still a need that we could fill. 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. [Facebook Safety]

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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.

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