If you’ve been scrolling through Facebook lately, you’ve likely come across a barrage of posts from friends and family sharing a dubious copyright notice. And no, I’m not referring to their latest political rants. I’m talking about that ridiculous status update claiming to protect your content from being stolen by Facebook itself—a message that just won’t die, no matter how many times it’s been debunked.
There are multiple iterations of this message, but they all share a common theme: they instill fears about potential subscription fees or boast about protecting copyrighted material. Most importantly, they urge users to copy and share the post to safeguard their “intellectual property” from being snatched away by the Facebook overlords. One of the more popular versions goes something like this:
Despite being patently false, people continue to circulate it. Facebook’s own Statement of Rights and Responsibilities clearly states that “anyone who uses Facebook owns and controls the content and information they post and how that content and information is shared.” But does that stop the determined spreaders of this hoax? Not a chance.
How to Combat This Nonsense
So, how do you combat this nonsense? The best approach is to click the arrow in the upper right corner of the post and hide it. After you do that, Facebook will prompt you for a reason—you can select “this is false news,” because that’s exactly what it is. Facebook isn’t charging you for anything, and typing random text doesn’t magically protect your data. And no, Mark Zuckerberg isn’t personally combing through Facebook pages to check for copyright disclaimers on your Throwback Thursday photos.
It’s hard to understand why these annoying hoaxes gain traction, but at least they inspire some creativity among Facebook users, who come up with their own hilarious variations of these privacy alerts. From mentions of Santa Claus to unicorns and government agencies, the inventive spins on these notices are often more entertaining than the original. Here are a few of our favorite examples:
- “Hide your cookies, hide your cat!” – Now that escalated quickly!
- “Not the plants!” – Seriously, Robin, get it together!
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is this: any post on Facebook that threatens a fee or demands you copy, paste, and share it to avoid calamity is likely just a load of rubbish. Do a quick search before sharing these ridiculous claims, and spare your friends and family from the headache.
And speaking of sharing, make sure to pass along this post—otherwise, you might just invite an actual Scary Mommy into your home, and trust me, you don’t want that. She’ll drink all your wine and let loose with some colorful language in front of your kids. You’ve been warned!
Further Reading
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In summary, let’s debunk the myth surrounding Facebook’s copyright protection notices once and for all. These posts are nothing but myths designed to spread misinformation. Share the truth and help keep your feed free from unnecessary clutter!
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