Facebook glitch sends Safety Check notice to people nowhere near Pakistan after explosion

On Sunday, many Facebook users received push notifications asking them to check in after an explosion in Lahore, Pakistan. The only problem? None of them live in Pakistan. 

Woah! I didn’t even realize I was in danger! Or in Pakistan!

Thanks, Facebook. I’m safe. Safe in Lahore, Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/wWUU21BENS

— Lauren O’Neil (@laurenonline) March 27, 2016

https://twitter.com/iammollymchugh/status/714115112420790273

https://twitter.com/MattZeitlin/status/714117697093640194

Yeah. Uh. No. @facebook I’m not in Lahore. You guys are doing it wrong. pic.twitter.com/O9Bwq92gFG

— Abigail Bassett (@AbigailBassett) March 27, 2016

Facebook’s Safety Check feature allows users in certain geographical areas to flag themselves as safe after a major event like an earthquake or terrorist attack, like the one in Brussels last week. Why is this happening? A Facebook spokesperson told Gawker: “We have activated Safety Check in Lahore. We apologize to anyone who mistakenly received a notification outside of Pakistan and are working to resolve the issue.”

We’ve reached out to Facebook and will update if and when we hear back. 

Illustration via Max Fleishman