False claim: New Meta policy allows Facebook to use your photos in court trials - Alt News
Abhishek Kumar
4th December 2021 / 3:20 pm / Last updated: 4th December 2021
On October 28, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company’s name has been changed to Meta. Since then, a post has been circulating widely on Facebook about certain changes in the social media platform’s terms and conditions, which will allow Facebook to use users’ photos against them during a trial. It instructs others to copy and paste the text to express their disagreement with the changes, and opt-out.
The complete Hindi message is as follows: “The new Facebook/ Meta rules come into effect tomorrow which allow them to use your photos. The deadline is today! Your photos can now even be used in lawsuits against you, including all the posts you have written to date, even messages that have been deleted. It doesn’t take anything, just a copy, and a post. Better to do it now than regret later. As per Sections 1-207, 1-308 of the UCC… I am enforcing the reservation of my rights…I do not allow Facebook/ Meta or any other individual affiliated with Facebook / Meta to use my photos, information, messages, or messages, past, and future. Press and hold your finger anywhere in this post and the copy icon will appear. Click on it, then go to your profile, click start a new post and paste this there. I do not allow Facebook / Meta to share the information posted on my profile–any photo present or past, phone number or post… Absolutely nothing can be used in any form without my written permission.”
नया फेसबुक/मेटा नियम कल से शुरू होगा जहां वे आपकी तस्वीरों का उपयोग कर सकते हैं । समय सीमा आज है ! यह आपके खिलाफ मुकदमों…
Posted by Himanshu Narayan on Tuesday, November 23, 2021
The post is widespread on Facebook with numerous users copy-pasting the text and sharing it.
Even at first glance, it is clear that this claim is false. However, in order to verify, we checked Facebook’s Data Policy. It clearly states, “The Facebook company is now Meta. While our company name is changing, we are continuing to offer the same products, including the Facebook app from Meta. Our Data Policy and Terms of Service remain in effect, and this name change does not affect how we use or share data.” We found the same information on Facebook’s Terms of Service page.
Alt News then performed a keyword search, which led us to a 2012 report by American fact-checking agency Snopes. It debunks several such misleading claims related to Instagram and Facebook. Forbes had also fact-checked one such message in 2019. This confirms that this claim has been circulating online since 2012, with a slightly different version going viral on social media each time.
According to an AFP Thailand report, this hoax is widespread in different languages in countries like the United States, New Zealand, Singapore, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Thailand. Speaking to AFP, Communication Officer Manaschuen Kovapirat of Facebook Thailand and Laos clarified that the viral post was completely false.
To sum it up, the viral post is completely baseless and has nothing to do with either Facebook or Meta.
Abhishek is a senior fact-checking journalist and researcher at Alt News. He has a keen interest in information verification and technology. He is always eager to learn new skills, explore new OSINT tools and techniques. Prior to joining Alt News, he worked in the field of content development and analysis with a major focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
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