Fast company logo
|
advertisement

NEWS

Celebrities including Rob Lowe and Adriana Lima are falling for a 7-year-old Instagram hoax today

The hoax originated on Facebook all the way back in 2012.

Celebrities including Rob Lowe and Adriana Lima are falling for a 7-year-old Instagram hoax today

[Photo: Katka Pavlickova/Unsplash]

BY Michael Grothaus2 minute read

If you follow a lot of celebrities and influencers on Instagram, you might have seen some of them post an image of an alarming block of text in the last 24 hours that claims Instagram is about to change its privacy and photos rules, and anyone who does not explicitly post that they do not consent to the changes will see their IG private messages made public and that the copyright to every photo they’ve ever published on the site will revert to Instagram, which the company can then use for any purpose it wishes.

[Screenshot: Instagram]
The thing is, these supposed Instagram changes are completely bunk. The image of this alarming block of texthas been floating around on social media sites since at least 2012, but there is not a true word written in it.Instagram is not going to claim ownership over all your photos and use them however they wish. And no, Instagram is not going to make all your private IG messages public for anyone to read.

There is a couple of variations on the hoax text, but it generally goes something like this:

Don’t forget Deadline tomorrow !!! Everything you’ve ever posted becomes public from tomorrow. Even messages that have been deleted or the photos not allowed. It costs nothing for a simple copy and paste, better safe than sorry. Channel 13 News talked about the change in Instagram’s privacy policy. I do not give Instagram or any entities associated with Facebook permission to use my pictures, information, messages or posts, both past and future. With this statement, I give notice to Instagram it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute, or take any other action against me based on this profile and/or its contents. … NOTE: Instagram is now a public entity. 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 If you do not publish a statement at least once it will be tacitly allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in the profile status updates.

I mean, come on, people? Why would Instagram do that?

There’s probably no way to determine why such an old hoax is going viral on Instagram yet again today, but plenty of celebs have been duped into sharing it in the past 24 hours, including Rob Lowe, Usher, Adriana Lima, Taraji P. Henson, Julia Roberts, Debra Messing, Scooter Braun (Justin Bieber’s manager), Dave Bautista, Judd Apatow, Retta, Scooter Braun, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and Josh Brolin (Thanos himself!).

But at least one celeb is having some fun at the expense of his famous friends. Daily Show host Trevor Noah posted a parody of the hoax last night.

View this post on Instagram

Be safe my friends. The new Instagram law is coming now!

A post shared by Trevor Noah (@trevornoah) on Aug 20, 2019 at 3:55pm PDT

Recognize your company's culture of innovation by applying to this year's Best Workplaces for Innovators Awards before the final deadline, April 5.

CoDesign Newsletter logo
The latest innovations in design brought to you every weekday.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Privacy Policy

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Grothaus is a novelist and author. He has written for Fast Company since 2013, where he's interviewed some of the tech industry’s most prominent leaders and writes about everything from Apple and artificial intelligence to the effects of technology on individuals and society. Michael’s current tech-focused areas of interest include AI, quantum computing, and the ways tech can improve the quality of life for the elderly and individuals with disabilities More


Explore Topics