Beautiful Virgin Islands

Friday, Sep 11, 2026

Facebook rolls out tools to help you find real-time info in a crisis

Facebook users who request or offer help during a crisis can now message via WhatsApp.

Facebook said Monday that it's giving users more ways to communicate and share real-time information during a disaster or attack.

The world's social network has a hub called Crisis Response that lets users learn about critical events happening around the world, as well as request or offer help during a fire, mass shooting, earthquake or other crisis. You can also check whether your friends or family members have marked themselves as safe during a disaster.

Users requesting or offering help can now message each other through WhatsApp . Before, they had to use Facebook Messenger. Users will also be able to share photos and videos along with real-time information such as road closures and collapsed buildings on crisis response pages.

"We heard loud and clear from people that what they really needed was more information during times of crisis," said Emily Dalton Smith, director of social impact product at Facebook. "What they wanted was to be able to know everything that was relevant so that they can navigate through this tough time."

As Facebook offers users more ways to share and communicate during a crisis, the company will also have be wary about people who could use the tools to spread misinformation, scams and hate speech. In April, an Islamophobic post was the top video on a Facebook crisis response page for bombings in Sri Lanka that killed nearly 300 people. In 2017, following a mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas, a page that was part of the company's crisis response hub showed hoaxes and scams.

Smith said users can report posts. The company also uses technology along with human reviewers to flag content that goes against Facebook's rules. "Safety and security are top of mind for us," she said.

Facebook is also providing data to help emergency responders distribute supplies to those in need and find people who have been displaced from their homes. The company works with more than 100 partners across disaster response and public health.

Laura McGorman, policy lead for data for good at Facebook, said that the company can use aggregate location data of Facebook users to see how many people move from one area to another. Before, first responders had to rely on people at the scene to figure out if those in need were at shelters or hospitals.

"By aggregating information from Facebook mobile users who've opted into location services, you can actually see whether or not evacuation orders have been followed. And that's extremely powerful," she said.

Facebook has also been trying to improve its estimates of how many people have been displaced from their homes, which can be tricky because people can move for various reasons. Now they're accounting for other factors such as commuting and tourism in their displacement maps.

"We want to make sure we're really focusing on people who are truly displaced, and our new maps do that," McGorman said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Merz Rebukes AfD Expansion in Saxony-Anhalt
OpenAI Unveils GPT-6 and Says: "We May Already Have Reached AGI"
Congressman Accused Andrew of Sex Crimes in the United States
Donald Trump: "I'm Glad Harry and Meghan Left the United States"
Spicy Food Is Linked to Lower Death Risk — but It Is Not a Miracle Cure
AfD Enters Saxony-Anhalt Election at 41% in Historic Test for German Politics
Gen Z Turns to Investing as America's First-Home Dream Moves Further Out of Reach
TSA Unveils Major Airport-Security Overhaul as It Drops Gold+ Privatization Plan
CIA Chief Warned Russia Against Attacking NATO in Secret Moscow Mission
Raheem Sterling Charged With Dangerous Driving After Lamborghini Crash
The Secret Dolly Parton Kept Until Her Death: "She Was Much Sicker Than She Let On"
Glacier Collapse, Not Earthquake, Triggered Deadly Nepal-Tibet Flood
Turnbull Warns AUKUS Could Leave Australia Without Promised Nuclear Submarines
California Billionaires Pour More Than $150 Million Into Fight Over Proposed Wealth Tax
German Broadcaster Goes Dark to Warn AfD Could End Its Saxony-Anhalt Service
Badenoch Plans Major Shadow Cabinet Reshuffle as Tories Struggle in Third Place
Prime Minister Andy Burnham to Give Ukraine Classified Storm Shadow Blueprints for Domestic Missile Production
UK Graduate Job Vacancies Plunge 45% to Lowest Levels on Record
Iranian Hackers Shut Down British Power Plant for Four Days in Landmark Cyber Attack
Novak Djokovic Reveals Relentless Self-Doubt and Rejects Retirement in New Documentary
Trump Imposes 50% Tariffs on Canadian Goods After Bilateral Trade Talks Collapse
Australia Combines Indigenous Fire Knowledge With Satellite Tech to Combat Catastrophic Wildfires
Father and Son Jailed in Scotland Over £900,000 Airport Cannabis Smuggling Operation
UK Fraud Reports Surge Sevenfold as Criminals Exploit QR Codes in Parking Meters and Phishing Emails
Brighton Thrash Aston Villa in Four-Goal Opening Half as Manchester City Trail Bournemouth
Erin Patterson Appeals Triple Murder Convictions After Hotel Mixed Sequestered Jury With Prosecution
The rise and fall of Hui Ka Yan, China’s richest man
Woke: Britain Considers Plain Packaging for Cigars as Specialist Shops Warn of Industry Collapse
Britain's Public-Service Productivity Remains Below 2019 as £80 Billion Output Gap Fuels WFH Debate
Mandelson Epstein Case in Jeopardy as U.S. Files Stay Out of Reach
Prince Harry and Six Others Ordered to Pay £9.5 Million After High Court Defeat
Petrol Bombs Set Luxury Cars Alight Outside Birmingham Wedding as Police Hunt Three Men
Bitcoin Surges Toward $80,000 as Short Squeeze and ETF Inflows Ignite Crypto Rally
Twenty-Nine US States Take Meta to Trial Over Alleged Child Addiction on Instagram and Facebook
Former Scottish National Party Executive Peter Murrell Jailed for Five Years Over £400,000 Embezzlement
Moderna and Merck's Personalized Cancer Vaccine Succeeds in Historic Late-Stage Melanoma Trial
Prince Harry and Meghan to Move Back to Britain With Their Children
England and Wales Have Fewer Than 1,800 Prison Places Left for Men
Suspected People Smuggler Arrested After Investigation Identified Him
Children's Doctors Warn That Vaping Can Lead Young People to Smoking
Hundreds of Thousands of Students Receive GCSE and Vocational Results Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Here Is What Can Never Happen in Your Country: Taiwan Is Giving Money to All Its People Because It Collected Too Much Tax
UK Inflation Rises to 2.9% as Energy Bills Jump
UK Issues New Conduct Guide for Asylum Seekers on Consent and Respect
A Sleepless Night on Wall Street: Nasdaq to Begin Nearly Round-the-Clock Trading
"The First in the World": 69-Year-Old Protested Artificial Intelligence—and Went to Jail
Ukraine's Ousted Defence Minister Calls for Wartime Presidential Election
China’s Lifelike AI Humans Move From Livestreams Into Real-World Service Roles
Sarah Ferguson Reportedly Retreats to Late Ex-Boyfriend's Swiss Chalet
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
×