Facebook has once again provoked controversy¹ after the discovery it is possible to search for photos of female friends on its social network, but not male ones.

脸书上可以搜索女性好友照片，而男性好友的照片却搜不到，这一发现又把脸书推向风口浪尖。

The feature was spotted² by Belgian security researcher Inti De Ceukelaire, whose findings led to further revelations that Facebook prompts its users to search for photos of female friends in bikinis.

比利时安全研究员Inti De Ceukelaire发现这一现象，另外，脸书会让用户搜索到其女性好友穿比基尼的照片，又进一步证实了他们的发现。

“Facebook has modified their creepy hidden search feature this weekend,” he tweeted earlier this week. “You can no longer retrieve³ hidden photos from your male friends. Women can/may still be stalked.”

本周的早些时候他发推文表示，“这个周末，脸书已经修改了被他们隐藏的、很恶心的搜索功能，你搜索不到男性好友的隐藏照片，但是却可以搜索女性好友的照片。”

He continued: “Even more: When you request photos from your male friends, Facebook assumes that you wanted to see pictures of women. *Facepalm*”

他接着称：“甚至，当你搜索你男性好友的照片，脸书还会认为你想要看女性的照片。“捂脸”的表情包。”

Screen shots of the issue accompanied his tweets, prompting responses that Facebook is “sexist” due to the way its internal search feature functions.

他的推文伴随截图，进一步说明脸书的这个内部搜索功能是一种“性别歧视”。

Another user then noted⁴ how Facebook's search bar automatically suggested photos of female friends in bikinis, which was confirmed in tests by The Independent.

另外一名用户发现脸书的搜索引擎会自动推荐女性好友比基尼照片，测试结果由《独立报》确认。

“These are abusive search suggestions and should be addressed,” said Jennifer Grygiel, an assistant progessor of communications at Syracuse University.

雪城大学传播学助理教授Jennifer Grygiel称：“这些被滥用的搜索建议，应该加以解决。”

Facebook originally stated in a comment to media outlets⁵ that it was the result of “a bug” with its search function, however the social network issued a further clarification to explain it is not a glitch⁶ but simply how the search feature works.

一开始脸书对此回应是他们的搜索系统出现“故障”。之后这个社交媒体对此澄清称，这不是一个小故障，而是搜索功能是这样工作的。

A spokesperson for Facebook said the tech giant is working to fix the issue but at the time of writing the controversial search suggestions were still appearing.

脸书的一位发言人称，正对此问题进行修复，但是截至发稿之前，这个问题还是没有解决。