Facebook apologises after balloons and confetti appear on Lombok earthquake posts

Facebook has apologised after posts about a deadly earthquake in Indonesia were automatically adorned by images of balloons and confetti.

More than 130 people were killed when a 6.9 magnitude quake struck the popular island of Lombok on Sunday.

Indonesian speakers using the word “selamat” which means “congratulations” when used alone but can also mean “unhurt” saw animated balloons and confetti on their posts.

Herman Saksono shared an image of the error on Twitter and wrote: “After the 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Lombok, Facebook users wrote “I hope people will survive”. Then Facebook highlighted the word “selamat” and throw some balloons and confetti.”

He added: “This feature is widely available on Facebook globally, however we regret that it appeared in this unfortunate context and have since turned off the feature locally.

“Our hearts go out to the people affected by the earthquake.”