Facebook Bug: Blocked Accounts Could Harass Users for 8 Days

A Facebook bug allowed blocked users to send messages to accounts which had blocked them for eight days, before the bug was fixed.

Over 800,000 users were affected by the bug, which Facebook admitted to on Monday.

“Starting today we are notifying over 800,000 users about a bug in Facebook and Messenger that unblocked some people they had blocked,” Facebook declared in a blog post. “The bug was active between May 29 and June 5 — and while someone who was unblocked could not see content shared with friends, they could have seen things posted to a wider audience.”

“We know that the ability to block someone is important — and we’d like to apologize and explain what happened,” the company continued, before clarifying certain aspects of the bug.

Facebook claimed that the bug did not “reinstate any friend connections that had been severed,” and, “83% of people affected by the bug had only one person they had blocked temporarily unblocked.”

“Someone who was unblocked might have been able to contact people on Messenger who had blocked them,” Facebook explained, adding, “This issue has now been fixed and everyone has been blocked again.”

Those who were affected by the bug reportedly received a notification from Facebook informing them.

“While 800,000 people is just a tiny fraction of the 2.2 billion Facebook user base, that is still a sizable number of affected users who may have been subject to concerning episodes, ranging from misunderstandings and awkward exchanges to feelings of anxiety and panic,” wrote the Verge’s Nick Statt, who explained that “blocking isn’t just for exes or people whose posts are ‘annoying,'[…] but to prevent harassment, bullying, and other more insidious forms of online interaction.”