If you're on social media, you have to take for granted there are going to be hoaxes doing the rounds from time to time.
And yet, people tend to fall for the same ones over and over. Apparently, being a celebrity doesn't mean you're any more vigilant.
It seems an old social media hoax is doing the rounds on Instagram once more. It takes the shape of a message claiming that the app has changed its privacy policy, so all the photos and messages you've posted are free for the company to use as it sees fit.
Moreover, the hoax claims that all you have to do to stop this happening is state in a post that "Instagram doesn't have permission".
Of course, the "news" is fake, as Facebook representatives have confirmed. Instagram has initiated no such change in its policy. And even if it had, simply posting a block of text to your profile has no legal binding whatsoever.
That hasn't stopped some celebrities from reposting the hoax too of course.? And we're not just talking about actors like Taraji P Henson, Judd Apatow, and Tom Holland, and singers like Usher. The list also includes the likes of current US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry.
The stupidest thing though, is that messages in almost exactly the same format as others that have previously circulated on Facebook and Twitter. Heck, if you look closely at the image people are reposting, you can even see where the name Facebook has been swapped out for Instagram (badly).?
Not to mention that the Rome Statute applies to the International Criminal Court governing prosecution for things like genocide and war crimes.?
Instagram head Adam Mosseri had to actually post a refutation online. "Heads up!," Mosseri wrote on his Instagram story, and on Twitter. "If you're seeing a meme claiming that Instagram is changing its rules tomorrow, it's not true."
And if you're worried about Instagram using your photos and data, well... maybe you shouldn't have signed up for the app.