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Facebook Activated Safety Check in Paris Only After Terror Attack - Reports

The function, which helps people to report that they are unharmed in emergency situations, was created by Facebook after the terrorist attacks in France in 2015 and re-activated on social media in wake of the stabbing incident in Paris last Saturday.
Sputnik

"Facebook activated the Safety Check function on Saturday night, allowing social network users to inform their loved ones that they are safe after a dangerous event," the BFMTV channel said, adding that the function also allowed offering and receiving help if needed.

Previously, French police said that a young man, who was later reportedly identified as a 21-year old man born in Chechnya, had stabbed people in the center of Paris, screaming "Allahu Akbar" and leaving 1 dead and four injured.

The prosecutor's office on counterterrorism announced that it had launched an investigation into the attack. In the meantime, media reported that the Daesh* terrorist group had claimed responsibility for the massacre.

READ MORE: Paris Stabbing Attacker of Chechen Origin, Aged Some 20 — Reports

Safety Check was originally introduced in France on November 13, 2015, after the terrorist attacks in Paris and Saint-Denis, which killed 130 people, including 89 at the Bataclan Theater.

The tech feature is activated by the company during disasters and terror-related incidents to quickly determine whether people in an affected area are safe, in order to prevent panic.

*Daesh, also known as ISIS, Islamic State is a terrorist group banned in Russia

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