Facebook Is Inadvertently Posting Old Photos

By Brian R. Fitzgerald

Facebook Inc. is inadvertently raising long-ago published posts to life, just weeks after the social network declared a number of its users dead.

Facebook on Friday told PC Magazine it was investigating a glitch in which people reported seeing old posts in their newsfeeds. The posts, which were seen by a Wall Street Journal editor, appeared as if published for the first time, with no likes or comments and a fresh timestamp. It wasn't clear how many people were affected, or when the glitch began. Facebook hasn't yet responded to a request for comment.

The issue is more than just an inconvenience. To an affected user, it could seem as if a hacker had taken over the account. It also pushes privacy buttons. Posts were published to people's feeds without consent, even if they were their own posts. There is also a chance the posts could include sensitive photos or other content a user might not want republished.

Facebook has several features that dip into past content to ramp up engagement among users. "On This Day" resurfaces old photos for people to share. Another feature generates a video that sums up a person's year on Facebook. In each case, the content is available for a user to peruse and share, or not.

The glitch comes nearly a month since Facebook incorrectly placed a notice on a number of people's profile pages, including that of Chief Executive Mark Zuckerburg, that the person was deceased. It also comes as Facebook grapples with much more serious challenges over the proliferation of fake news on its site, and the miscalculation of engagement metrics important to advertisers.

Write to Brian R. Fitzgerald at brian-r.fitzgerald@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 09, 2016 16:33 ET (21:33 GMT)

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