Tech

Here's how to use Facebook's tool to check if people you know in Paris are safe

Read in app

Amid the horrifying attacks in Paris on Friday, Facebook has activated its "Safety Check" feature for the area:

2Safety_Check_for_Paris_Terror_Attacks
Facebook

Here's how it looks on mobile:

Facebookaldskfj
Facebook

Facebook launched the tool last year to allow people in disaster areas let their friends and loved ones know whether or not they are OK.

To use the tool to mark whether you are safe, or to check on friends in Paris, visit its Paris Terror Attacks page. Users will also get notifications when new friends mark themselves as safe.

A Facebook representative says that the site has activated the tool five times in the past year after natural disasters, but that this is the first time it's had to use it for this kind of situation.

"We are shocked and saddened by the events unfolding in Paris," a representative said. "Communication is critical in these moments both for people there and for their friends and families anxious for news."

Since Facebook activated the tool on Friday, 4.1 million people used it to mark themselves as safe and 360 million people were notified that their friends were safe, the company says. 

Read next

Jillian was most recently an enterprise technology editor based in San Francisco.  She started at Insider as an intern on the technology desk in 2013 and rose to a senior reporter position, covering Alphabet, Facebook, and ecommerce. After three years at the site, she left to spend time freelance writing abroad, before taking reporting positions at CNBC and then at Forbes, where she covered Alphabet, Silicon Valley culture, and artificial intelligence. She returned to Insider in March 2020 and worked on the enterprise technology desk until August 2021.  Jillian graduated from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications with a degree in magazine journalism and information management and technology.