The Lebanese claimed that such an approach signaled to them that the lives of Western victims were prioritized over those in the Middle East.
The "safety check" feature allows all those involved in major incidents, including terrorist attacks or natural disasters, to inform their friends and family that they are out of harm's way.
The feature has only previously been used after natural disasters such as the recent devastating earthquake in Pakistan that left more than 270 people dead.
Dear Facebook: Nice French flag overlay. But how do I change my profile picture to show solidarity with the people of Beirut?
— ror (@Aurora_Hyseni) 15 ноября 2015
In his blog post, Lebanese blogger Joey Ayoub of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, recalled "two horrible nights," which he said took the lives of over 40 in Beirut and more than 130 in Paris.
@facebook, please do security check for all terror attacks. I have friends in Paris and Beirut. Their safety is equally important to me.
— Sara Guribye (@saraguribye) 15 ноября 2015
"It also 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," he said.
He bemoaned the fact that "we do not get a safe button on Facebook" and that "we do not get late night statements from the most powerful men and women alive and millions of online users."
Apparently Beirut doesn't deserve a safety check on Facebook ZUCK bro grow up… https://t.co/t5zAdYkioS
— lrlikhon (@lrlikhon) 15 ноября 2015
His sentiments were shared by many Lebanese users on Twitter, where they lambasted Facebook, which introduced an overlay for profile pictures in the colors of the French national flag so that users could show solidarity with victims of the Paris attacks. Facebook hadn't offered such a feature after the Beirut tragedy.
To be honest, I'm annoyed that people in #Beirut couldn't check in on Facebook as "safe" the other day.
— Kareem C (@kareemvots) 14 ноября 2015
For his part, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg made an apparently vague response to the criticism by saying that "we now plan to activate Safety Check for more human disasters going forward as well."
in regards to Facebook's "marked safe" option, would have been GREAT if it was active fr Beirut ystrday. I guess Arab lives < European lives
— diana. (@3arabknight) 14 ноября 2015
"You are right that there are many other important conflicts in the world." We care about all people equally, and we will work hard to help people suffering in as many of these situations as we can," Zuckerberg said.
At least 43 people were killed by suicide bombers in Beirut the day before Paris was rocked by an array of explosions, in which at least 132 people died. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for both attacks.
