Facebook Flags And Deletes Crucial Fire Safety Info Amid West Coast Wildfires

Facebook has reportedly been removing critical safety information as wildfire season intensifies across the western U.S.

An investigation by The Washington Post uncovered numerous cases where the tech giant flagged and took down posts since June, affecting areas with a total of 20 active fires.

Many of these posts included links or screenshots from Watch Duty, a nonprofit fire safety app that provides real-time wildfire alerts.

Additionally, daily updates from federal and state agencies, such as Cal Fire, which warned residents in fire-prone California towns, were also taken down, even on pages specifically dedicated to fire updates.

Facebook's automated explanation for the removals suggested violation of community spam rules: "It looks like you tried to get likes, follows, shares, or video views in a misleading way," users were informed.

The Washington Post found that most of the takedowns involved external links, including those to official government sources. Additionally, none of the users received notifications about their posts being removed.