Facebook bug unlocks users on more than 800,000 accounts

You may have noticed that you had muted this old pedantic "friend" on Facebook by clicking the "block" button – but it turns out that a bug in the social network had other plans for your online relationship. A hiccup on both Facebook and Facebook Messenger has resulted in the unblocking of some annoying digital citizens. In fact, more than 800,000 Facebook users had undone their blocked preferences, which could have meant that their content might have been seen by users deemed less than desirable.

"The bug was active between May 29 and June 5 while someone who was unlocked could not see shared content with friends, they could have seen things posted to a wider audience Erin Egan, head of privacy protection at Facebook, wrote, "We know that the ability to block someone is important," Egan said, and explained that the bug was not so far that it completely reversed the initial blocking action

"When you block someone on Facebook, they can not see post on your profile, start conversations with you on Messenger, or add them as a friend, "noted the executive. "Blocking automatically defuses them if you were previously friends." Regarding this particular bug, old friends who had been deleted since were no longer in a user's account, and about 83% of those affected by the bug had only one person that they had previously blocked becomes temporarily unlocked. That said, those that were unlocked probably had the option to contact their blocker via Messenger – a less than desirable result.

But do not worry: Facebook solved the problem, and as Egan noted, everyone was stuck again. If you were one of the individuals affected by the bug, you should receive a notification the next time you log in, asking you to recheck your blocking list.

If you were not aware of your ability to block some users, here is your chance to make your Facebook a little less cluttered. For more information on how to block a Facebook user, or about social network resources on the best way to tackle bullying or online harbadment, you can check out the site of Facebook security.