San Francisco, Feb 16 (IANS): Facebook has again courted controversy with a search function that allows users to scout for photographs of female, but not male friends, the media reported.

The feature was spotted by Belgian security researcher Inti De Ceukelaire, whose findings led to revelations that Facebook prompts users to search for photographs of female friends in bikini, The Independent said on Friday.

The tech giant originally called it a 'bug', only to issue a clarification later to explain that it is not a glitch but simply how the search feature works. A Facebook spokesperson said it is working to fix the issue.

"Facebook has modified its creepy hidden search feature this weekend," Ceukelaire tweeted earlier this week.

"You can no longer retrieve hidden photographs of your male friends. Women can/may still be stalked. Even more, when you request photographs from your male friends, Facebook assumes you wanted to see pictures of women," Ceukelaire added.

His tweets prompted responses that Facebook is "sexist" due to the way its internal search feature functions.

Twitter users also noted how Facebook's search bar automatically suggested photographs of female friends in bikini.