Internet hoaxes need no introduction. Every few months, a viral hoax takes over the world of social media by storm and what’s even more concerning is that people actually fall for these bluffs. Sometimes, it is regarding a celebrity death while at other times, it can be about a Security or Privacy threat to the account. Viral challenges such as Momo and Blue Whale shouldn’t be counted out either.
Sadly, a viral hoax recently tricked countless Instagram users, including big celebrities and influencers. A tech reporter Taylor Lorenz tweeted about the new copy and paste hoax that became so viral in so little time that even Instagram itself had to step up and clear the air regarding its authenticity.
The widely circulated post describes a new Instagram rule that would result in posts and messages (even the deleted ones) becoming public. With this rule in effect, Instagram would have full authority to use a user’s photos, even against them in the court, if needed. According to the post, every user should copy and paste (and share) it to make it clear that Instagram doesn’t have the permission to use a user’s private posts.
The post was filled with grammatical errors and style of the text varied noticeably throughout the message. Despite these mistakes, the post became viral in no time and even caught the attention of celebrities and influencers such as Taraji P. Henson, Julianne Moore, Julia Roberts, Rita Wilson and many more. Once these “big names” fell for the prank and reposted the image, countless fans of theirs found it to be true as well and the fire just kept on spreading from there on.
Apparently, “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah was clever enough to classify the post as a hoax but still decided to jump on the bandwagon and edited the post’s content to take jabs at the grammatical errors in the original one.
The massive and sudden popularity of the post caused Instagram to step in and announce that “There’s no truth to this [hoax] post”. The assurance was provided by the Brand Communications Manager at Instagram Stephanie Otway. Thus, everyone should be assured now that no new law regarding the posts becoming public exists or is in the works.
However, it should be noted that Instagram is planning to implement some big changes to the platform such as hiding the likes on users’ feeds and an initiative against bullying on the platform.
Read next: Instagram’s new tool is meant to reduce the risk of false information
Sadly, a viral hoax recently tricked countless Instagram users, including big celebrities and influencers. A tech reporter Taylor Lorenz tweeted about the new copy and paste hoax that became so viral in so little time that even Instagram itself had to step up and clear the air regarding its authenticity.
The widely circulated post describes a new Instagram rule that would result in posts and messages (even the deleted ones) becoming public. With this rule in effect, Instagram would have full authority to use a user’s photos, even against them in the court, if needed. According to the post, every user should copy and paste (and share) it to make it clear that Instagram doesn’t have the permission to use a user’s private posts.
The post was filled with grammatical errors and style of the text varied noticeably throughout the message. Despite these mistakes, the post became viral in no time and even caught the attention of celebrities and influencers such as Taraji P. Henson, Julianne Moore, Julia Roberts, Rita Wilson and many more. Once these “big names” fell for the prank and reposted the image, countless fans of theirs found it to be true as well and the fire just kept on spreading from there on.
Apparently, “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah was clever enough to classify the post as a hoax but still decided to jump on the bandwagon and edited the post’s content to take jabs at the grammatical errors in the original one.
The massive and sudden popularity of the post caused Instagram to step in and announce that “There’s no truth to this [hoax] post”. The assurance was provided by the Brand Communications Manager at Instagram Stephanie Otway. Thus, everyone should be assured now that no new law regarding the posts becoming public exists or is in the works.
However, it should be noted that Instagram is planning to implement some big changes to the platform such as hiding the likes on users’ feeds and an initiative against bullying on the platform.
Read next: Instagram’s new tool is meant to reduce the risk of false information
