Facebook will no longer send you birthday reminders for a deceased friend

Facebook has had an option to turn a deceased person’s profile into a memorial account. However, it continued to prompt friends of the person once a year, on the birthday. The slightly awkward and insensitive notification is about to change forever.

In its official blog, Facebook detailed new updates to honour those who have passed away. These include a new tributes section for memorialised accounts; additional controls for people who manage memorialised accounts; and improved AI to keep the profile of a deceased loved one from appearing in painful ways.

If an account has not been memorialised, Facebook uses AI to help keep it from showing up in places that might cause distress. For instance, recommending that person be invited to events, or sending birthday reminder to their friends.

Facebook is now only allowing friends and family members to request to have an account memorialised.