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Facebook sorry for putting Philippines in ‘state of war’
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The Philippine flag, which accompanied the "Happy Independence Day" greeting, showed that the red side of the flag was on top on Facebook on June 12. (Facebook via The Straits Times/-)
F
acebook has placed the Philippines virtually on “war footing,” but the social media giant says it was all a mistake.
“Happy Independence Day!” said Facebook in a greeting Sunday as the country celebrated its 118th anniversary of the proclamation of independence.
But the graphic message posted on the newsfeed of Filipino Facebook users had the Philippine flag shown upside-down, wrongfully signifying the country was in a state of war.
“This was unintentional, and we’re sorry,” Facebook said about the error that ignited pointed commentaries in a still politically polarized country.
“We care deeply about the community in the Philippines and, in an attempt to connect people on Independence Day, we made a mistake,” its spokesperson said in a statement sent to the media.
The Philippines has about 51 million active Facebook users.
It was not the first time the Philippine flag was displayed wrongly.
In June 2015, Filipino sprinters Eric Shawn and Kayla Richardson gained national attention not only for bagging gold at the Southeast Asian Games but also for wearing a uniform with an inverted Philippine flag.
