Why there's no need to worry if you fell for the Facebook copyright hoax
The reason that the hoax worked on so many was that it was so believeable
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.We may have stopped forwarding them years ago, but the chain email never really died: It just migrated to Facebook, where its copy-paste offspring continue spreading rumors, superstitions and lies.
The dual hoaxes circling the network this week are painfully representative. One, related to copyright, claims that you must copy/paste some legalese in order to maintain the intellectual property rights over your posts and photos. The second, related to privacy, claims that everything you’ve ever done on Facebook will soon go public — unless you post the warning or pay up.
Both of these hoaxes are patently ridiculous (… as we discussed in January, the last time they went viral). But they’re also, when you think about it, pretty understandable.
Despite Facebook’s valiant attempts to make its privacy settings more transparent, they were fairly opaque for a number of years — and they remain really complicated, particularly for less savvy users. These copy-paste messages cut through the dense layers of settings and filters and activity logs; they put the issues in unequivocal, chain-email terms. They’re like totems carried against the vast, impersonal forces of Facebook.
… too bad, for their believers, that they don’t work.
Copyright Washington Post
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments