Facebook activates 'Safety Check' feature for deadly Nigerian blasts after it was criticised for using it in wake of Paris but not Beirut attack

• Facebook has activated its 'Safety Check' feature in wake of Nigerian blast
• The market bombing, likely carried out by Boko Haram, killed at least 32
• It was criticised this week for activating it after Paris but not Beirut violence
• Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has said it will be rolled out more often
• See more Facebook news and feature updates 

By Corey Charlton for MailOnline

Published: 04:55 EST, 18 November 2015 | Updated: 13:45 EST, 18 November 2015

Facebook has activated its 'Safety Check' feature for the first time in Nigeria, after a bombing likely carried out by Boko Haram killed more than 30 late on Tuesday.

It usually activates the feature, which allows users to mark themselves as safe, after natural disasters, but not bombings or attacks.

The social network, however, activated it after Friday's gun and bomb attacks in Paris, drawing criticism from some users because the feature was not activated for suicide bombings in Beirut a day earlier.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) said the 'Safety Check' feature will be rolled out more often in future 

The feature allows members in areas struck by disasters or incidents involving a high number of casualties to let friends and family know they are safe. It was first used Tokyo during the 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster

Locals gather at the scene of the bomb blast, where at least 32 people were killed by a Boko Haram detonation

The bomb exploded at a busy marketplace in Yola, Nigeria, where the Islamic militants are active

Residents of the village gather by a gate to look at the damage caused by the deadly bomb blast

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook co-founder and chief executive, confirmed in a post on the website the Safety Check was activated following the bombing.

Zuckerberg said at the weekend the feature would be used more widely in the future. 

Tuesday night's bombing at a crowded lorry park in Yola, northeast Nigeria, was the first attack in the area this month and left at least 32 dead and some 80 others injured.

The explosion bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram Islamists, who have repeatedly hit civilian 'soft targets' in their six-year insurgency.

Then, today, two female suicide bombers blew themselves up at a mobile phone market in the northern city of Kano, killing at least 12 people and wounding around 60 others.

At least 17,000 people have been killed and more than 2.6million made homeless by the violence in that period, with suicide and bomb attacks an almost daily occurrence in the northeast. 

Facebook said it decided to activate the feature as news of the Paris attacks unfolded because of the level of activity on its 1.55billion-user network.

People in Paris were posting to let their friends and family know they were safe, Alex Schultz, Facebook vice president of growth, wrote in a post Saturday.

But Facebook suffered a huge backlash on social media, with some accusing it of turning a blind eye to tragedies in certain parts of the world.

Hundreds of football fans leave the Stade de France following the match targeted by suicide bombers on Friday

French special forces escort people from the Bataclan concert hall amid the violence on Friday

Facebook user Samira Hamana was among those who questioned why the feature had not been activated in Beirut or Syria

Tina Badran Kfoury demanded an explanation from the Facebook CEO after the controversial move

A user called Ziad was forced to complete his own safety check-in as the feature was not turned on in Beirut 

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, tried to defend the controversial move.

In a post on his Facebook profile on Sunday he wrote: 'Many people have rightfully asked why we turned on Safety Check for Paris but not for bombings in Beirut and other places.

'Until yesterday, our policy was only to activate Safety Check for natural disasters. We just changed this and now plan to activate Safety Check for more human disasters going forward as well.

'Thank you to everyone who has reached out with questions and concerns about this. 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.'

He was also slammed by Facebook users for changing his profile picture to the French flag.

Some have questioned why users weren't offered to display the Lebanon flag on their profile to support the victims of the bomb blast.

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