This is not the first time that Facebook has been the target of alarming hoax threatening users to take certain action to prevent their private posts from being made public. The latest of such hoax reads somewhere along the following iteration:
“As of September 29, 2015, at 10:50 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. I do not give Facebook or any entities associated with Facebook permission to use my pictures, information or posts, both past and future. By this statement, I give notice to Facebook it is strictly forbidden to disclose copy, distribute, or take any other action against me based on this profile and/or its contents.
The alarming lie goes dupe Facebook users into copy and pastes the message on their accounts, “All members must post a note like this. If you prefer, you can copy and paste this version. If you do not publish a statement at least once it will be tactically [sic] allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in the profile status updates.”
It appears this hoax has been edited time and time again since there are different versions of it out there on the Internet. Some versions are basing their argument that since Facebook is now a public company, it is going to make all affairs on the platform public. It further warns users that if they do not copy and paste that message onto their timeline by a certain time, all their posts, present and the past private posts will be made public.
However, please be advised all these messages are nothing more than a mere hoax. They are baseless and untrue and are only meant to strike fear among Facebook users.
