Facebook bug made extremely old messages randomly appear as new and unread

Several reports of messages sent and received by users of Facebook years ago being flagged as new and unread have been shared on social networks like Twitter.

According to a statement released by Facebook to The Verge, the company is aware of this issue. A spokesperson for the company said the following:

Some people are seeing older messages on Facebook.com. We are aware of the issue and are actively working to resolve it in as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.

After the issue was resolved, the following statement was also released:

Earlier today, some people may have experienced Facebook resending older messages. The issue, caused by software updates, has been fully resolved. We’re sorry for any inconvenience.

Further coverage:
The Verge