Bug made private posts of 14mn Facebook users public
San Francisco, June 8 : In yet another privacy goof-up, Facebook has admitted that 14 million users were affected by a bug in May that automatically suggested posting publicly when the users were writing posts meant only for friends.
The bug made sure that the posts could be viewed by anyone, including people not logged on to Facebook.
The bug, according to Erin Egan, Chief Privacy Officer at Facebook, occurred as the Facebook developers were building a new way to share featured items on users' profile, like a photo.
"Since these featured items are public, the suggested audience for all new posts -- not just these items -- was set to public.
"The problem has been fixed, and for anyone affected, we changed the audience back to what they had been using before," Egan said in a blog post late Thursday.
The revelation came after a New York Times report exposed how the social network allowed about 60 device makers, including Chinese smartphone players, to access personal information of users and their friends.
Facebook admitted sharing users' data with Chinese company Huawei -- facing the heat in the US over data privacy concerns -- along with three other China-based smartphone makers Lenovo, OPPO and TCL.
The latest bug affected audience selector that lets you decide who gets to see the post.
Starting Thursday, "we have started letting the 14 million people affected know -- and asking them to review any posts they made during that time.
"To be clear, this bug did not impact anything people had posted before, and they could still choose their audience just as they always have," Egan said.
It took Facebook developers five days to fix the bug.
"If you posted publicly (during the period May 18 to 27), you'll see a notification from Facebook when you log in that leads to a page with more information - including a review of posts during this period," said Egan.
Facebook is already under intense scrutiny for misuse of millions of its users' data after the Cambridge Analytica data leak scandal became public.
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Allahabad HC orders probe into 'reinstatement' of teacher in UP's Barabanki
Lucknow (PTI): The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered a probe by the special task force (STF) into alleged irregularities in the rejoining of a teacher at City Intermediate College in Barabanki, observing that the reinstatement appeared to be prima facie illegal.
The court also directed the recovery of the salary paid to the teacher during the disputed period.
A bench of Justice Rajeev Singh passed the order on a petition filed by the college management committee. The court expressed doubts over the roles of the District Inspector of Schools (DIOS), Barabanki, the college principal and the teacher concerned and hence, directed a detailed inquiry into the matter.
Taking note of alleged manipulation of records and misleading submissions, the court ordered the immediate transfer of the Barabanki DIOS to ensure a fair probe. It also directed the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against the then joint director of education of the Ayodhya division.
In its order, the court found that the teacher, Abhay Kumar, was initially appointed as an assistant teacher in 2018 but joined an Eklavya Model Residential School in Chhattisgarh as a lecturer in June 2024 without obtaining permission from the management. His subsequent request to retain the lien was rejected.
Despite this, he was allowed to rejoin the Barabanki College in September 2025 on the directions of the joint director of education and the DIOS, and was even paid the salary for October 2025. The court termed the rejoining "wholly illegal" and lacking any legal basis.
The bench also expressed concern over lapses in communication within the education department and directed the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary to ensure that official orders are communicated through email and WhatsApp as well, to prevent disputes.
The matter is next listed for hearing on May 28 when a compliance report is sought.
