Over the last few days, celebrities have been sharing different variations of a viral post that claims Instagram is implementing new rules on photo usage. According to the post, the photo-sharing app will now be able to their users' photos against them in court cases. In order to prevent the Facebook-owned app from doing that, users are instructed to share the post, saying that they do not give permission for their photos or information to be used.
Instagram has now clarified that there is no truth to this viral post, which has been shared by celebrities like Prateik Babbar, Rob Lowe, Pink and Usher, among others. Celebrities like Gal Gadot, Julia Roberts and Eva Longoria have deleted the post after it was called out as a hoax, reports 10 Daily.
"There's no truth to this post," Stephanie Otway, brand communications manager at Instagram, said to WWD.
This hoax about protecting your copyright by posting a legal notice, in fact, has been around for years. Variations of it have gone viral on Facebook several times over the past decade.
Fact-checking website Snopes reported back in 2012 that Facebook and Instagram users cannot unilaterally opt out of any new privacy or copyright terms instituted by Facebook.
"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," Facebook had said in a statement at the time.
You can read Instagram's actual terms of service here.
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