Facebook users warned to IGNORE hoax message claiming photos and private messages will be made public
Don't pay any attention to this cut-and-paste message
FACEBOOK users are being warned to ignore a hoax message that is spreading across the social media network like wildfire.
The viral post claims a deadline is approaching which if missed will make "everything you've ever posted ... public from tomorrow".
That includes your photos, private information and messages, according to the hoax.
The status then encourages you to copy and paste its message to your own status to make sure your friends and family know about the cutoff.
It claims that changes to Facebook's privacy policy mean you will no longer own any of the content on the site.
"NOTE: Facebook is now a public entity. All members must post a note like this," the status reads.
"If you do not publish a statement at least once it will be tacitly allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in the profile status updates.
"It costs nothing for a simple copy and paste, better safe than sorry", the status reads.
But the message is fake, and no such deadline exists.
It mirrors a viral status warning that surfaced when Facebook became a publicly traded entity in 2012.
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Back then, Facebook said: "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."
People were worried that Facebook going public would make their profile information public, too.
But Facebook's public status is entirely unrelated to the firm's copyright protection and privacy rights.
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