Facebook bug automatically sent friend requests

3 years ago 1

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Facebook has fixed a bug that led to some user accounts on the popular social media site automatically sending friend requests to profiles they viewed.

Several Twitter users reported the issue after a Facebook mobile app update last week.

“So Facebook now automatically sends friend requests when you [view] see someone’s profile,” one impacted user said.

“We did the test with random people, and if you check your sent friend requests, they appear there.”

The screen recording below shows how Facebook would automatically send a friend request if someone clicked on the profile of a user they were not friends with.

Fb is legit adding randoms if you click on their profile.

Got a screen record here.@facebook wtf?!#Facebook #glitch #facebookadd pic.twitter.com/S7lxPhQU6F

— Bavid Mcjavid (@bavidmcjavid) May 12, 2023

Some users looked at the funny side of the issue, as it effectively gave away those who were “Facebook-stalking” people they were not friends with.

Others were not as amused, describing the glitch as “absolutely terrifying”, “embarrassing”, and even “the Devil’s work”.

Facebook parent Meta Platforms acknowledged the bug in a statement to The Daily Beast on Friday, 12 May 2023.

A spokesperson for the tech giant said a recent app update caused the bug and that it had been patched.

“We’ve stopped this from happening, and we apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused,” the spokesperson said.

Subsequent to Meta’s response, Facebook removed the unsolicited pending friend requests and rolled back the friend requests that were accepted as a result of the bug.