Response to Paris Attacks Triggers Facebook Policy Change

Facebook made the decision this weekend following the Paris attacks to allow people temporarily change their profile pictures to include The Tricolore (Flag of France) embedded in their profile picture to show solidarity.

While many Nigerians were willing to show their support by changing their profile pictures, others bemoaned the fact the terror attacks in Nigeria, Kenya and elsewhere have been ignored by Facebook, the most recent being Beirut, Lebanon which experienced a terror attack on Thursday, one day before the Paris attacks.

Feeling neglected, netizens criticized compatriots and celebrities (e.g Phyno) who showed solidarity or changed their profile picture. The Lebanese responded by manually filtering their profile pictures with the flag of Lebanon to show solidarity with the 43 people who were killed during an ISIS suicide bomb attack in their capital city Beirut.

The reaction of nationalities whose countries have suffered terrorist attack but weren’t given Facebook attention’ prompted a response from Mark Zuckerberg and possibly a policy change on how the company handles emergencies and natural disasters.