You've probably seen this status update several times in your Facebook newsfeed this week: The social network will start charging $5.99 to keep your posts set to "private," and the only cost-free way to prevent all of them from becoming public is to copy and paste this particular status message, your friends advise.
"Now it's official! It has been published in the media. Facebook has just released the entry price: $5.99 [or £5.99] to keep the subscription of your status to be set to 'private,'" the urgent-sounding announcement reads. "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."
Hopefully, the unconvincingly vague opening line clued you in to the fact that it isn't legit, or perhaps you've seen these Facebook privacy hoaxes too many times to fall for them again. In any case, rest assured: Facebook is not going to start charging for privacy, and copying and pasting those made-up legal notices does nothing besides publicly displaying your gullibility.
"While there may be water on Mars, don't believe everything you read on the internet today," Facebook said in response to the rumors on Monday, while joking about the big NASA news of the day. "Facebook is free and it always will be. And the thing about copying and pasting a legal notice is just a hoax. Stay safe out there Earthlings!"
Myth-debunking site Snopes.com tracked similar rumors at least as far back as 2012, when Facebook issued the following statement:
"There is a rumor circulating that Facebook is making a change related to ownership of users' information or the content they post to the site. This is false. Anyone who uses Facebook owns and controls the content and information they post, as stated in our terms. They control how that content and information is shared. That is our policy, and it always has been. Click here to learn more: www.facebook.com/policies."
As Snopes pointed out, even if the rumors of privacy changes are true, Facebook users can't "unilaterally alter or contradict any new privacy or copyright terms instituted by Facebook, simply by posting a contrary legal notice on their Facebook walls."
So please remember: Exercise your critical thinking and do a little research the next time someone says you need to copy and paste something in your status box.
