Update #2, 12 May, 2023 (01:44 PM ET): Meta has responded with the following official statement: ““We fixed a bug related to a recent app update that caused some Facebook friend requests to be sent mistakenly. We’ve stopped this from happening and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
Update #1, 12 May, 2023 (11:16 AM ET): It appears as though Facebook’s auto-friend request bug has been fixed (phew). We’ve checked several unfollowed profiles on different accounts and didn’t see any unwanted friend requests being sent. Meta has yet to comment on what the issue was, but for now it seems safe to peek at your crush once again.
Yikes. If you’re in the habit of stalking profiles on Facebook you might want to respect people’s privacy for a little bit. According to many reports from disgruntled users across social media, Facebook is sending unintended friend requests to other users just by looking at their profiles.