Facebook's 'Copyright Control' Hoax That Just Won't Die

By SheSpeaksTeam Sep 29, 2015

If you count yourself among one of the millions of Facebook users, you are probably all too familiar with some of the hoaxes that circulate the social media site. Some of us have taken to going straight to Snopes (the website that researches and debunks many internet rumors) after reading some of the alarming messages people post on Facebook. But there is one in particular that seems to have a life of its own, reappearing time after time and fooling many people on your friend list.

The ‘copyright control’ hoax has many users believing that if they don’t copy and paste a particular message on their newsfeed they will have to pay a subscription fee to Facebook to keep their profile private. The hoax message reads, “Now it's official! It has been published in the media. Facebook has just released the entry price: $5.99 to keep the subscription of your status to be set to 'private.' If you paste this message on your page, it will be offered free (paste not share) if not tomorrow, all your posts can become public. Even the messages that have been deleted or the photos not allowed. After all, it does not cost anything for a simple copy and paste.”

CNN reports abot the popular hoax and it’s reappearance for the third time in the last few years. Each time the messages begin to pop up on Facebook, officials must release a statement to the press allaying social media user’s fear that they will have to pay for privacy. This time Facebook officials jokingly alluded to recent reports about water found on Mars when explaining how the message is just a false rumor. Facebook says, “While there may be water on Mars, don't believe everything you read on the Internet today. Facebook is free and it always will be," the company said. "And the thing about copying and pasting a legal notice is just a hoax. Stay safe out there Earthlings!”

What do you think of the latest round of messages about “copyright control’ on Facebook?

Have you ever fallen for an internet hoax like this?

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Comments

by ajsterz | Lowell, MI

Sep 30, 2015

Hoax's like this seem to keep making their rounds around facebook! Don't you think that if there were a real privacy change this extreme, they would send you an email, notification, or some warning, instead of you finding out about it from someone else's facebook? The next hoax will be that you have to pay for every facebook message you receive and you will have to pick a payment plan like you do for text messages.

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