Many individuals received Facebook notifications last Sunday morning, March 27th, asking if they were safe and if they wanted to notify their friends and family. The notification was intended for those living in Lahore, Pakistan, after a horrific suicide bombing occurred. The glitch came from Facebook's safety check feature, used for terrorist attacks, earthquakes, etc., which was introduced to the website over two years ago.

Facebook has since then issued an apology. A representative has spoken out:

“We apologize to anyone who mistakenly received a notification outside of Pakistan and are working to resolve the issue.”

However, although media outlets have labeled such an occurrence as "embarrassing" and "an accident," the glitch has done what media has failed to do. The notification brought the attention of millions to the terrorist attack, which could possibly have gone under the radar, as most tragedies in non-European states do.

Many have gone on Twitter to express their shock and condolences:

Sadly, as stated in the tweet above, the media is more interested in the technical glitch of Facebook rather than the deaths of 40 people in Lahore today, including women and children. Similarly, individuals on Twitter, conditioned by the western media, were more attentive to the fact that they received a "silly" notification, rather than to the tragedy.

What we must do as fellow human beings, in this sad, horrifying time, is come together and recognize the apparent favoritism in our media. We must realize that just because violence is "normal" and frequent in some parts of the world, it does not minimize the pain felt by those who live in those parts. Yes, the majority of Americans will have an easier time relating to the experiences of those in Europe, but it is our job to educate ourself and recognize that the tragedies of those who live in Africa, Asia, etc. are not subjects to make jokes about.

The agenda of those who commit these horrifying crimes, is exactly to separate us and turn us against each other. Yet, our media is not trying to fight this, and even feeds into the agenda by conditioning the western world to view the Arab world as the enemies, rather than fellow humans who are suffering from the same enemy. Now, with the use of internet, we are able to create our own media; and we must take it upon ourselves to fight the subconscious that has been engrained is us. Although, FaceBook has made a mistake, it took a step forward in the right direction, even if it was unintentional.