Facebook 'Safety Check' activated amidst violent Charlotte protests

After two nights of violent protests and unrest in North Carolina, Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency in the city of Charlotte and the community activated Facebook's Safety Check feature.

Following a disaster, Facebook's Safety Check feature allows users to notify others on the site that they're safe or to check in on other friends who may have been affected.

Since the Charlotte, North Carolina protests began after police fatally shot 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott on Tuesday, over a dozen police officers were injured, tear gas was fired into aggressive crowds and a man -- last reported to be in critical condition -- was shot on Wednesday night.

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Though Facebook usually activates the Safety Check feature in extremely dire situations like the November terrorist attacks in Paris that left 130 dead and the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that left 49 dead in June, a community can also trigger the feature -- which is what happened on Wednesday in Charlotte and during the recent Chelsea bombing in New York that left 29 people injured.

A Facebook spokesperson told Mashable that the social media site has been testing a way for communities to activate Safety Check themselves. "When a significant number of people post about a specific incident and are in a crisis area, they will be asked to mark themselves safe through Safety Check. Once they do, they can then invite friends in the affected area to mark themselves safe as well,” the spokesperson said. "In certain circumstances, as a situation evolves, Facebook may decide to notify everyone in an area even after the community has already started using Safety Check."

Since the feature was first launched in 2014, it has improved significantly. "This year alone Facebook has activated Safety Check dozens of times and the community has triggered Safety Check hundreds of times since we started testing it in June," said a spokesperson.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

With a rise in violence over the course of the past two days, the Charlotte community saw it fit to make use of the feature to reassure others of their safety.

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To access the Charlotte Safety Check page, simply go to Facebook's website and type "Safety Check Protest in Charlotte, North Carolina" in the search bar.