Don't Fall for These Facebook Hoaxes!

Don't believe everything you read on the Internet. And definitely don't believe everything you read on Facebook! Here's a few of the latest hoaxes to float around on social media:

Keep Facebook from owning your photos (with legal mumbo-jumbo)!

This hoax has made a revival as of the new year, but it’s actually a few years old. Due to a “policy change,” Facebook is (supposedly) claiming ownership of everything you’ve ever posted to the site, including all photos. However, you can exempt yourself from this policy change by copy/pasting a wall of legal jargon to your Facebook page.
 
The problem is, there hasn’t been a policy change. Back in 2012, when this hoax first made the rounds, Facebook clarified that it hadn’t claimed copyright over anything, photos or otherwise.
 
Even if this hoax were true, that wall of text your friends are posting still wouldn’t do anything. Signing up for Facebook means accepting their terms of service – and you can’t just change that by posting something saying you don’t agree after the fact.

Facebook Now Requires an ID

Primarily spread through private message, this hoax made the claim that all users would have to submit a photocopy of an ID or birth certificate in order to keep their page. Users who did not comply, or users who had a name other than the one listed on their ID, would have their pages deleted.
 
This hoax pops up every few years, usually with nothing more than the deadline updated. First, no “official” Facebook notification is going to come in the form of a private message from Mark Zuckerburg. Second, the message is missing what should be the most important information – where to send your photocopied personal info.
 
(This is really for the best – and honestly, it’s probably only a matter of time before someone tries spreading this hoax as a way of collecting social security numbers!)
 
If Facebook really does have an important announcement, don’t worry – they’ll send you an official email instead.

Facebook is charging for service!

Here it is – the hoax so widespread that Facebook actually altered its homepage to combat it. Facebook has openly stated that at no point are they ever going to charge users to access their service.  And they’re not just saying that to be nice – financially, it would make no sense for them to do so.
 
Facebook makes their money by selling targeted ad space. The more information they have (for example, your interests, gender and age) the more valuable that information is to advertisers. But in order to acquire that information, they need users. Lots of them.
 
In other words, Facebook only makes money if you’re on their site. They have every incentive to make access free – and keep it that way.
 
Have you been forwarded any dubious Facebook claims lately? Let us know!