Facebook Fixes Bug That Sent Friend Requests If You Looked at a Profile

A Facebook bug that saw the social network send automatic friend requests to any profiles that users viewed has been fixed by Meta.

In a statement shared with the Daily Beast(Opens in a new window), a Meta spokesperson blamed the glitch on "a recent app update that caused some Facebook friend requests to be sent mistakenly. We’ve stopped this from happening and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

Facebook does not let people see who has viewed their profiles. Strangers can also view public Stories without giving away their identities(Opens in a new window). That means you can creep on an ex, former friend, or co-worker without them knowing you're having a stalker moment. This glitch, however, sent a friend request the second anyone clicked through to someone's profile.

The glitch was widely discussed on social media. One Facebook user tweeted(Opens in a new window): “facebook stalking and somehow a friend request was sent. Thats [sic] it guys. See u [sic] in another life.” 

In some cases, Facebook sent friend requests to people users were attempting to block. As The Daily Beast notes, some people deactivated their Facebook accounts due to embarrassment. The problem is fixed, but perhaps it's a sign to leave certain people behind and move on with your life.

Last month, a different Facebook bug(Opens in a new window) meant ads on the platform overcharged customers, forcing it to briefly stop all advertising. Last week, Meta also had to remove Facebook ads from hacked pages that contained links to malware. 

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