| Recurring |
one_organization, multiple_organization |
(a) The software failure incident of Facebook's anti-spam algorithm accidentally suspending groups has happened before within the same organization. In the incident mentioned in the article, Facebook's glitch led to the temporary suspension of several groups, including pro-Bernie Sanders groups and groups supporting Filipino presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte. The article mentions that Facebook acknowledged the issue as a glitch in its systems and stated that they are working to improve their tools to prevent such incidents in the future. This indicates that similar incidents may have occurred within Facebook's platform before [43055].
(b) The software failure incident of automated policies causing groups to be inaccessible briefly has also happened at other organizations or with their products and services. The article highlights how false reports for spam or abusive behavior can trigger automatic bans on social networks like Facebook and Twitter if submitted in large quantities. This suggests that similar incidents related to automated policies or algorithms causing disruptions may have occurred in other organizations or platforms as well, although the specific instances are not mentioned in the article [43055]. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design |
(a) The software failure incident in the article was attributed to a glitch in Facebook's systems, specifically mentioning that "a glitch in its systems" caused the outages for several groups on the social network [43055].
(b) The article does not provide specific information indicating that the failure was due to contributing factors introduced by the operation or misuse of the system. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
(a) within_system: The software failure incident, in this case, was caused by a glitch in Facebook's systems. Facebook mentioned that the outages were due to a glitch in its systems, where one of their automated policies was applied incorrectly, leading to the temporary suspension of several groups on the platform [43055]. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident in this case was attributed to a glitch in Facebook's systems, which falls under the category of non-human_actions. Facebook mentioned that the outages were due to a glitch in its systems and that one of their automated policies was applied incorrectly, leading to the temporary suspension of several groups [43055]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
software |
(a) The software failure incident reported in Article 43055 was not attributed to hardware issues. The incident was specifically mentioned to be caused by a bug in Facebook's anti-spam algorithm, which was described as a glitch in its systems. This indicates that the contributing factors that originated in hardware were not the cause of the failure [43055].
(b) The software failure incident in Article 43055 was directly linked to software issues. The bug in Facebook's anti-spam algorithm led to the accidental suspension of groups on the social network. Facebook acknowledged that the outages were due to a glitch in its systems, indicating that the contributing factors that caused the failure originated in the software itself [43055]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
non-malicious |
(a) The software failure incident described in the article was non-malicious. It was caused by a bug in Facebook's anti-spam algorithm, which led to the accidental suspension of several groups on the social network. The suspensions were not intentional acts of harm but rather a result of the glitch in the system. Supporters and administrators initially blamed political opponents for the outages, but Facebook clarified that the issue was due to a glitch in their systems, not malicious intent [Article 43055]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
accidental_decisions |
(a) The software failure incident described in the article was due to accidental decisions. Specifically, it was caused by a bug in Facebook's anti-spam algorithm that led to the accidental suspension of several groups on the social network. The suspensions were not intentional but rather a result of the glitch in the system, as confirmed by Facebook themselves. This incident was not a result of poor decisions but rather a mistake in the application of automated policies [43055]. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
accidental |
(a) The software failure incident in the provided article was not attributed to development incompetence. Instead, it was described as a bug in Facebook's anti-spam algorithm that accidentally suspended groups on the social network [43055].
(b) The software failure incident was categorized as accidental, as it was mentioned that the outages were due to a glitch in Facebook's systems, specifically a bug in the anti-spam algorithm, which was applied incorrectly [43055]. |
| Duration |
temporary |
The software failure incident mentioned in Article 43055 was temporary. The article states that the groups were temporarily suspended by Facebook and were taken down for a short period. Facebook acknowledged that the outages were due to a glitch in its systems and mentioned that they corrected the problem within hours [43055]. |
| Behaviour |
other |
(a) crash: The software failure incident described in Article 43055 was not a crash. It was a bug in Facebook's anti-spam algorithm that led to the temporary suspension of certain groups on the social network. The system did not lose its state or stop performing its intended functions entirely; instead, it incorrectly applied an automated policy, causing the groups to become inaccessible for a brief period [43055].
(b) omission: The incident was not characterized by omission. The system did not omit to perform its intended functions at any instance; rather, it mistakenly suspended certain groups due to a glitch in its systems [43055].
(c) timing: The software failure incident was not related to timing issues. The system did not perform its intended functions too late or too early; instead, it applied an automated policy incorrectly, leading to the temporary suspension of specific groups [43055].
(d) value: The failure incident was not a result of the system performing its intended functions incorrectly. It was caused by a bug in Facebook's anti-spam algorithm, which erroneously suspended certain groups on the platform [43055].
(e) byzantine: The incident did not exhibit characteristics of a byzantine failure. The system did not display inconsistent responses or interactions; rather, it experienced a glitch that led to the temporary suspension of groups due to an automated policy being applied incorrectly [43055].
(f) other: The behavior of the software failure incident can be categorized as a bug in the system's anti-spam algorithm, leading to the unintended suspension of groups on Facebook. The incident was not a crash, omission, timing issue, value error, or byzantine failure; instead, it was a case of a glitch causing groups to be inaccessible temporarily [43055]. |