An old hoax is again making the rounds on Facebook (FB). A text urging netizens to reverse Meta’s alleged policy to control the use of personal information and photos is a rehash. Meta has debunked this.
This month, netizens worldwide again started sharing the text warning about FB’s alleged policy while encouraging others to copy and paste it to revoke their consent. The text read:
“Hello. It’s official. Signed at 8:44 PM. It was even on TV. Mine really turned blue. Don’t forget that tomorrow starts the new Facebook rule (aka… new name, META) where they can use your photos. Don’t forget the deadline is today!!!
I do not authorize META, Facebook or any entity associated with Facebook to use my photos, information, messages or posts, past or future.
With this statement, I notify Facebook that it is strictly prohibited to disclose, copy, distribute or take any other action against me based on this profile and/or its contents. Violation of privacy may be punishable by law.
Here’s how to do it:
Hold your finger anywhere in this message and “copy” will appear. Click “copy”. Then go to your page, create a new post and place your finger anywhere in the empty field. “Paste” will appear and click Paste.
This will bypass the system….
He who does nothing consents.”
This is a new version of a hoax that began to spread online in 2012. Meta, in an earlier statement, has debunked the rumors and clarified that FB users own and control the content and information they post.
“There is a rumor circulating that Facebook is making a change related to ownership of users’ information or the content they post to the site. This is false. Anyone who uses Facebook owns and controls the content and information they post, as stated in our terms. They control how that content and information is shared. That is our policy, and it always has been,” the company said.
FB’s Terms of Service state that users retain ownership of the intellectual property rights of any content they create and share on the platform.
“You retain ownership of the intellectual property rights (things like copyright or trademarks) in any such content that you create and share on Facebook and other Meta Company Products you use. Nothing in these Terms takes away the rights you have to your own content. You are free to share your content with anyone else, wherever you want,” a part of the terms read.
According to FB’s Privacy Policy, they use data such as users’ profile information and the content they create to personalize ads and other sponsored content. Users will also be notified if there are changes to their terms and policies.
Versions of this hoax instructing netizens to post a copy-paste text to “bypass the system” have been debunked by Meta and news organizations over the years.
Fact-checking organization Snopes released earlier stories on the varying claims and said that copying and posting such text on their profiles “will not change anything” once they agree to the platform’s terms of service and privacy policy upon signing up. Users, however, can manage and control their privacy settings on the platform.
The hoax circulated among Filipino netizens after Meta’s social media platforms experienced an outage due to technical issues early this month.
Aside from the posts shared by FB users, CrowdTangle monitored at least 57 public posts shared on FB pages and groups over the last 30 days. It was also posted by FB pages like singer Arnel Pineda’s (Feb. 27, 2010) verified profile.
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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)