Facebook Confirms Bug Accidentally Unblocked Profiles from Over 800,000 Accounts

A bug accidentally unblocked profiles from the accounts of more than 800,000 Facebook users. This happened due to a blocking bug that Facebook revealed in a statement earlier this week.

“Starting today we are notifying over 800,000 users about a bug in Facebook and Messenger that unblocked some people they had blocked,” Facebook said on Monday. The bug was found active for a week, between May 29 and June 5.

Due to the blocking bug, off-limits Facebook users were able to see content from the people who had blocked them if these posts were set to the “Friends of Friends” privacy setting. But Facebook clarified that posts that were strictly meant for friends remained invisible to the blocked users.

Facebook users who have been affected by the blocking bug will receive a notification from the social media platform informing them of the issue. On the other hand, Facebook also assured users that all inadvertently unblocked profiles were brought back to the blocking lists.

Overall, Facebook found that the bug “did not reinstate any friend connections.” Though 800,000 is a big number, Facebook learned that only one person each was unblocked on the lists of 83 percent of the affected users. However, the glitch likely allowed some unwanted contacts to send messages to people who had blocked them.

“We know that the ability to block someone is important — and we’d like to apologize and explain what happened,” Facebook said.

Most social media platforms have blocking options offered to users and they work basically the same — to help users avoid the profiles they do not fancy seeing or interacting with. On Facebook, once a user was placed on someone’s blocked list, their friend connection is ultimately removed. The exchange of messages will be prohibited and they can also no longer view each other’s profiles, posts, and comments, even those that were posted prior to the blocking.